Sacramento area city directories and telephone books collection, 1850-2019

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Summary

Extent:
196 Volumes and 29 Reels
Language:
English and Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sacramento area city directories and telephone books collection, MS0031, Center for Sacramento History.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains directories and phone books of the city of Sacramento, California, and surrounding areas from 1850 through the early 1990s, and phone books published from 1967 through the present. City directory entries are listed by individual or business name and include their residence or business address, occupation and business address, and often their spouse's name. The earliest directories include where a person came to Sacramento from, and later directories include telephone numbers. The 1889-1890 city directory included a key code (SCOTLANDER - S=1 C=2 0=3 T=4 L=5 A=6 N=7 D=8 E=9 R=0) next to each person's entry that included their real estate (R), income (I), and personal (P) income. Occasionally acreage (A) and mortgage (M) appeared as well. In 1914, the city directories began providing a reverse directory by street name and address for individuals and businesses. Beginning in the late 1950s, two separate directories were published for the city proper and the suburban areas. In the 1960s and 1970s, a separate Roseville/Citrus Heights directory was published.

Phone books in the collection list name, address, and phone number for individuals and businesses. From 1967 to 1983, one phone book was published each year that included listings for individuals on white pages and businesses on yellow pages. Beginning in 1983, two phone books were published each year: one listing individuals (called "the white pages") and one listing businesses (called "the yellow pages"). Phone books cover the Sacramento metropolitan area, including the Delta, plus a few covering a larger portion of Northern California beyond the Sacramento area.

Biographical / historical:

Published on January 1, 1851, James Horace Culver's Directory for the Year 1851 was the first book to be published in Sacramento, California, and the first city directory on the West Coast to list street address numbers. The directory listed the city's residents, churches, benevolent organizations, saloons, restaurants, boarding houses, city and county elected officials, schools, theaters, courts, leading taxpayers, steamboat captains, and a brief history of the city.

The second book to be published in Sacramento was Samuel Colville's Sacramento directory for the year 1853-1854, which included Dr. John F. Morse's "History of Sacramento," a 35-page history of the city's development and politics of the previous ten years. An 1868 affidavit sworn by Morse attesting to the accuracy of this written history is included in this collection.

Colville continued to publish the city directory until 1856 when it was subsequently published by various editors and printed by H. S. Crocker Co. The Sacramento Directory Company (1890-1974) began publishing their directory of the city beginning in 1890 and would continue to publish it throughout most of the 20th century until it was purchased and published by R. L. Polk and Sons after 1974.

Phone books in this collection were first published in the 1960s. Books were published by Pacific Telephone from 1967-1983, Pacific Bell from 1984-2001, SBC from 2002-2005, and AT&T from 2006-present.

Acquisition information:
This collection was assembled through various donations and purchases (accession #s 1973/04/01-06, 1973/05/01-04 1977/44/01, 1980/54/01, 1981/116/03, 1982/04/5036, 1982/04/5041, 1982/04/5044, 1983/087, 1983/125/005, 1983/126/01, 1983/147/05, 1986/108/03, 1988/085/08-12, 1988/72.01/01-07, 1992/50/01, 1994/015/01, 1995/18/13, 1995/18/14, 1998/72, 1998/721, 2001/120/01, 2001/98/06).
Processing information:

Finding aid created by Sean Heyliger, July 2019, and edited by Kim Hayden, 2020 and 2023.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 2 series:

  • Series 1. City directories, 1850-1990
  • Series 2. Phone books, 1967-2019

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sacramento area city directories and telephone books collection, MS0031, Center for Sacramento History.

Location of this collection:
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95811, US
Contact:
(916) 808-7072
csh@cityofsacramento.org
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