In case it is not clear, the folks at BuffaloResearch do not own any city directories. Instead, we watch for when various providers digitize them. Then we collect the links here. Every directory below is online in full text for free, though FamilySearch will require you to register for a free account.
Directories are shown one year per row. As you’ll see, some years have been digitized by more than one provider. Some years have not been digitized at all. Most directories newer than 1927 are still protected by copyright, which is why only a few of them are online.
Offline, hard-copy Buffalo directories can still be browsed in the Grosvenor Room of the Buffalo & Erie County Pubic Library and by appointment at the Research Library in The Buffalo History Museum.
Please be aware that the Address Books, Blue Books, and Social Registers are limited to upper-income households. Most notably, they omit the immigrant East Side.
No Buffalo city directories were published in the years 1829-1831, 1833, 1834, 1843, 1845, 1846, 1943-1945, 1947, 1949, 1954, 1973, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1994, and 1995.
We have some directories from Erie County, too.
Erie County & Beyond
Compared to Buffalo, few directories were published for the suburbs, towns & villages of Erie County. The R.L. Polk Company, who is still the nation’s dominant city directory publisher, didn’t offer coverage outside of Buffalo until 1957. A few random early Erie County directories do exist, though. We’ll add links if we find that they’ve been digitized.
| Archive.org | Family Search | Google Books | Hathi Trust | NY Heritage | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 Business | |||||
| 1884 Great Lakes | |||||
| 1891 Great Lakes | |||||
| 1898-1899 Business | |||||
| 1902-1903 Business | |||||
| 1917 | |||||
| 1924 | |||||
| 1940 | 1940 | ||||
| Archive.org | Family Search | Google Books | Hathi Trust | NY Heritage | Other |
Illustration from Buffalo Live Wire, April 1918.
BuffaloResearch.com 