Cleveland Public Library

The People's University

Cleveland City Directories

An inventory of the Cleveland Public Library's extensive city directory collection is now available through the Library's online genealogy research page.  A treasure-trove of information for genealogists and historians, city directories can be used to research addresses and occupations of ancestors, historical advertising, property listings and brief information on companies. Someone wanting historical information about his or her street could, for example, use the 1936 city directory to look up the names and professions of everyone on the street in that year. The Library's collection is one of the largest in the country and includes all directories published for Cleveland and suburbs, as well as an extensive collection of directories for other cities in Ohio and throughout the United States.