Over 200 city directories from 34 different cities and towns are now available to search and browse on DigitalNC: http://digitalnc.org/collections/north-carolina-city-directories.
Most of the directories in the digital collection are from the North Carolina Collection, with a few contributed by the Durham County Library and the Forsyth County Public Library. We are planning to add more directories over the next year.
City directories are fantastic resources for studying family and community history, with a surprisingly rich amount of information. Not only do they include names and addresses, most contain information about each person’s occupation, place of employment, and spouse. In many directories published in the early twentieth century, the race of the resident is also noted.