Using City Directories and Sanborn Maps in Genealogical Research

When people start down the genealogy journey, their focus is often births, marriages, and deaths. In time, however, they realize that there is much more to learn. The presentation will discuss where people lived and what work they might have done with a focus on two different documents that are readily available for the period before the 1890s to the advent of WWII. City directories were produced and sold before telephone books became available. Sanborn maps were sold to insurance underwriters to help them better estimate the cost of insurance. Best of all, using the two different documents together can provide a great deal of useful information. Where to find directories and Sanborn maps and how to use them will be covered.

Speaker Ed Storey has been a long-time writer of articles on the topic of genealogy for publications such as “Your Genealogy Today” and “Internet Genealogy.” His specialty is locating the hard-to-find old records of ancestors.