City directories are primarily useful for locating people in a particular place and time. They can tell you generally where an ancestor lived and give an exact location for census years. They are also useful for linkage with sources other than censuses.
Generally a city directory will contain an alphabetical list of its citizens, listing the names of the heads of households, their addresses, and occupational information. Sometimes the wife’s name will be listed in parentheses or italics following the husband’s. Often, dates of deaths of individuals listed in the previous year’s directory are listed as well as the names of partners of firms, and when possible, the forwarding addresses or post offices of people who moved to another town. In addition to the alphabetical portion, a city directory may also contain a business directory, street directory, governmental directory, and listings of town officers, schools, societies, churches, post offices, and other miscellaneous matters of general and local interest.
Recently, Internet Archive has expanded their collection of New Bern directories by adding several newly scanned volumes from the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center scanning project. The entire collection now consists of 10 volumes from 1911-1963.
- Hill’s New Bern City Directory 1911-1912
- Hill’s New Bern City Directory 1914-1915
- Official New Bern City Directory 1916-1917
- Hill’s New Bern City Directory 1920-1921
- Hill’s New Bern City Directory 1926
- Baldwin’s New Bern City Directory 1937
- Miller’s New Bern City Directory 1947-1948
- Miller’s New Bern City Directory 1951-1952
- Hill’s New Bern City Directory 1961
- Hill’s New Bern City Directory 1962-1963