Don't forget about city directories

These have been among the most overlooked resource in my own family history research so far-- probably because I didn't realize the value of the information they contain.

Old directories list the names of a city's residents, home addresses, and sometimes even their occupations and work addresses.

More recent U.S. federal census records tell you the addresses and occupations of your forbearers, but this was taken only once every ten years; the annual city directories can "fill in", telling you where they were and what they were doing in between. Often only heads of households are listen by name, meaning you won't find names of minor children or wives.

The information they can give is still very useful; this was how I discovered the location of the deli in Dorchester my grandfather owned and ran for over twenty years.

Finding old city directories that are accessible on the internet is rather hit-or-miss; thankfully, I came across a site that does have a few for Boston: 1845, 1855, 1865, 1870, 1872, 1875, 1885, 1905, and 1925. There are also some available on Ancestry.com.

I found some of my Irish-American Ryan ancestors: in the 1904 and 1905 directories appeared Great-grandfather David Thomas RYAN, who was just married and working as a clerk; David's brother, great-great uncle Jim, who at that time was a lieutenant in the Boston Fire Department (previously mentioned here). He was in Engine 3, located at 440 Harrison Street. The building no longer exists, but there are several old photos of it on the Boston Fire Historical Society website.

Engine 3 Firehouse, c. 1905, during the time my great-great uncle was working there. Photo courtesy of the Boston Fire Historical Society.

1904 listing for great-grandfather David

Listing for great-great uncle Jim

Listing for Thomas, great-great grandfather and father of David and Jim

Then and now: Fields Corner

My grandfather owned a delicatessen in a section of Dorchester (part of Boston), Massachusetts called Fields Corner from the early 1930's till his death in 1956. My grandmother and my dad ran it afterwards, but sold the deli a few years later.

With all of the times that Dad has talked about the deli and the years he spent working there, do you think it ever occurred to me to ask exactly where it was and if the building still exists?

I was fortunate enough to come across my grandparents in an old city directory the other night, and listed was also the Fields Corner Delicatessen, with address.

Google Earth, that simultaneously awesome and Orwellian-creepy program, enabled me to actually see the building where my grandfather's deli once was:

The deli was where Bargain City is now.

I searched online to see if there happened to be a photo of Fields Corner where you could see the deli when it was still the deli. I didn't find any, but I did find a cool picture of the area just up the street, taken on March 25, 1948. Then I used Google Earth to get as close to the same spot and the same angle as I could, and took a screenshot:

It's amazing to see that, while so much has changed, so much else has remained the same.