Archives and Special Collections
City directories provide information about the occupant who resided at a property, including their occupation. Prior to 1880, the directories provide an alphabetical listing of names, but not the corresponding house number, while later versions will include this information. Most useful is the street section, organized by each side of the street and address number -- so an address can be traced through the years.
City directories also contain business listings, advertisements, municipal information, history of community and county sections. ASC staff can provide instruction on the use of the city directories and the microform readers.
The following London city directories are available in the Archives and Research Collections Centre Reading Room:
• 1856-1961 on microfilm or microfiche
• 1961-2013 in book format
Digital Repositories
Some of the earliest directories have been digitized and are available online:
Other useful resources
For a guide to abbreviations used in the directories, see the Guide to City Directories published by the Toronto Public Library.
