Directories & Ready Reference - Exploring the Collections

Directories

City Directories (1822-1973)
The DC History Center holds Boyd’s City Directories for 1822, 1827, 1834, 1843, 1846, 1850, 1853, 1855, 1858, 1860-1943, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1973. Directories list residents alphabetically, and include occupation, place of employment, home address, race (up to 1870), and names of spouses (1928 onwards).

From 1914-1973, directories include a separate street address index. Patrons may search for their homes by address to discover its historic occupant. Volumes also contained a business directory, organized by business category.

Data was collected via door-to-door canvas in December of the previous year. If your home was built and occupied within a calendar year, the residents may not appear in the directory at that address until the following year.

Property Tax Assessment Directories

The DC History Center holds select 20^th century tax assessment directories, primarily 1917-1940 and 1981-1999 available by appointment. An inventory can be provided in advance.

Directories Available at the People's Archive at the DC Public Library

These directories are available from 1874 – 2009 on microfilm. Information provided here will include property owner, assessed value of lot and “improvement” (the value of the house), and square footage. Property’s square and lot number will be needed to search.

Digitized City Directories - ONLINE RESOURCE

Online database HeritageQuest (bit.ly/2krNU73; available with DCPL card) has some city directories. However, this database is setup for searching for individual people rather than browsing the entire digitized directory.

Select directories between 1860-1909 have been digitized and are available online; an index is available at: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=boyddc.

Local Newspaper Columnist Series

Journalism is a first draft of history, or so the saying goes. Among the holdings of the DC History Center are several collections of columnists' articles and images, focused on hyper local DC topics.

John Claggett Proctor

John Clagett Proctor, 1867-1956
Tribute to Proctor by Milton Rubincam in the Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Vol. 63/65, The 45th separately bound book (1963/1965).
John Clagett Proctor and Maud Proctor Callis papers (MS 0444.IV)
Series IV of the John Clagett Proctor and Maud Proctor Callis papers comprises reference copies of Proctor's articles for the Sunday Star, 1928-1949.

J. Harry Shannon

Index to "The Rambler", a Series of Articles by J. Harry Shannon on Washington and Vicinity Published in "The Sunday Star", Washington, D.C. over a Period of Years between 1912-1927
A tribute to Shannon by F. Regis Noel, in the Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Vol. 46/47, [The 38th separately bound book] 50th Anniversary Volume (1944/1945)
J. Harry Shannon "The Rambler" collection (MS 0946)
"The Rambler" was J. Harry Shannon's nom de plume for his articles in The Sunday Star from 1912 - 1927. Collection comprises original typescripts and notes for the "Rambler" column. Arranged by topic as designated by Shannon, from Accent, to Parks - Little sunken park off Park Road, to Zeppelins - early airships, to Various topics #4 (D.C.). See related photograph collection, J. Harry Shannon "The Rambler" collection (SP 0059)

Maps & Real Estate Atlases

Real Estate Atlases are structure-level maps which identify street address, square and lot numbers, and subdivision name (if applicable). Depending on the location of the property, any or all of these elements may have varied over time.

Reviewing real estate atlases chronologically can help determine the approximate date of building construction and trace neighborhood development.

Holdings at the DC History Center include Boschke maps (1857, 1861), Faehtz and Pratt atlas (1873-1874), Hopkins atlas (1878), Hopkins Real Estate atlas (1887-1896), Baist Real Estate Atlases (1903-1968), and Sanborn Insurance maps.

DIGITIZED REAL ESTATE ATLASES - ONLINE RESOURCE

The DC Public Library has digitized plat maps/real estate atlases from 1874 to 1896; see the Maps: Real Estate Plat Books collection at Dig DC. In addition, the Maps: City & Regional collection on Dig DC may show early maps of your neighborhood.

The Library of Congress online map collection also includes early Baist and Sanborn atlases. These are available for high resolution downloads: