Buffalo City Directories

Selected Buffalo directories from older and smaller to newer and larger
Illustration from Buffalo Live Wire, April 1918.

If you’re new to the topic, city directories and phone books are not the same thing. City directories, also called Polk directories, long predate the invention of the telephone and attempted to list all adults (or adult men), businesses, churches, charities, schools, government offices, etc., in a specific community. Phone books list only those who were telephone customers. Universal telephone use is a late 20th century phenomenon.

In case it is not clear, the folks at BuffaloResearch do not own any 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. 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 in the Research Library at The Buffalo History Museum.

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.

Abbreviation (example: 1904-SR)Stands For
ABAddress Book*
BBusinesses only
BBBlue Book*
GLGreat Lakes (marine trades & businesses)
SRSocial Register*
TTelephone book
*Please be aware that the Address Books, Blue Books, and Social Registers are limited to upper-income, presumably white households. Most notably, they omit the immigrant East Side.

Here are some random, old and new special-topic directories.


Buffalo Directories

By the way, we also have some directories from Erie County and Western NY.

Archive. orgFamily SearchGoogle BooksHathi TrustNY HeritageOther
1828
1832183218321832
18361836/37
1837
18381838
18391839
184018401840
184118411841
1842184218421842
18441844184418441844
1847/48
1848/491848/491848/491848/49
1849/501849/501849/501849/501849/501849/50
1850/511850/511850/51
1851-B
1851/521851/521851/521851/52
18521852
1852-B
18521852
1853185318531853
18541854
1854-B
18541854
1855
1855-B
18551855
1855-B
1855
1855-B
1855
18561856
18571857
185818581858
1859185918591859
1860186018601860
18611861186118611861
1862186218621862
186318631863
1864186418641864
18651865186518651865
18661866
1867
1868
1869
187018701870
1871
1872
187318731873
1874
187518751875
18761876
18771877
18781878
18791879
1880188018801880
18811881
1882
18831883
1883- AB
188418841884
1884-AB
18851885
1886
1887
1887-AB
1888
1888/89-AB
1889
1890
1890/91-AB
18911891
18921892
1892/93-AB
189318931893
18941894
1894/95-AB
1895
189618961896
1896/97-AB
18971897
1898
1899
19001900
1901
1901-AB
1902
1903-SR1903-SR1903
1904-SR1904-SR1904
1904/05-AB
1905-SR1905
1905-SR
1905
1906-SR1906-SR1906
1907-SR1907-SR1907
1908-SR1908-SR1908
1909-SR1909
1909-SR
1909
1909/10-AB
1910-SR1910-SR 1910
19111911-SR1911-SR1911
1911/12-AB
1912-SR1912-SR1912
1913-SR1913-SR
1914 incomplete1914-SR1914-SR
1915-SR1915-SR1915/16-AB1915-T
1916-SR1916-SR
1917
1919-SR1919-SR
1920-SR1920
1920-B
1920-SR
1923-BB
1938-SR
1940-SR
1942-SR
Archive.orgFamily SearchGoogle BooksHathi TrustNY HeritageOther

Erie County and 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.orgFamily SearchGoogle BooksHathi TrustNY HeritageOther
1880-B
1884-GL
1891-GL
1898/99-B
1902/03-B
1917
1924
19401940
Archive.orgFamily SearchGoogle BooksHathi TrustNY HeritageOther