City & County Directories

City Directories are a good starting point for most family or structural histories as they can pinpoint both a time and a place of residence. With this information additional sources, such as tax roles, court records and other documents can be utilized more effectively. Additionally, most city directories include business directories and materials detailing the government (mayor, aldermen, ward lines, etc.), public facilities (schools, parks, etc.) and active private organizations (masons, odd fellows, etc.) for a given year.

These directories were not published as a public service, however. They were published by a private company on a for profit basis—consequently directories were not published annually but rather at the publisher’s discretion. In Racine and Kenosha, this translated to only a few directories being created in the 19th century and an every other year publication schedule for the first half of the 20th century.

City Directories available in our reading room or found online:
Kenosha		Racine
	1927 New Street Numbering Section
	1858		1850
	1875 (partial)		1858
	1903		1876
	1904		1882 until 1885 - every year
	1904-1905		1887
	1905		1888
	1906		1890-91
	1908		1894
	1910		1895
	1912		1897 (partial)
	1914		1899
	1916		1901-02
	1918		1902
	1919		1904
	1920		1906
	1921 until 1947 - every odd year		1912 until 1920 - every even year
	1950		1921 until 1945 - every odd year
	1952		1950
	1954		1952
	1955		1954
	1956		1955
	1958 until 1993 - every year		1957 until 2001 - every year
	1995 until 2007 - every year except 2004		2003 until 2006 - every year

Digitized copy available online - click to view.
.pdf copy available online - click to view. Reader available at: http://www.adobe.com/

Farmer's Directories

Much less common than city directories, Farmers’ Directories covered an entire county except for the cities themselves. They are arranged by township and then alphabetical by last name. The entries include the name of the farm owner by section number, post office, and approximate acreage.

Farmer's Directories available in our reading room:

	1897 - 1898 Smith’s business and farmers’ directory of Racine and Kenosha Counties. [microform] and [book]
	1919 Prairie Farmer’s directory of Kenosha and Racine counties, Wisconsin.
	1934 Home and farm directory of Racine and Kenosha counties.
	1947 Kenosha County, Wisconsin complete farm directory.

If you are unable to visit our facility, we will be happy to provide you with copies of records located in our office: Please contact us with your request. It is helpful if you list your subject's name, location and dates of milestones.