New York Public Library is digitizing its collection of New York City
Directories; 1849-1915 are available free through the NYPL Digital
Collections portal. City directories describe New York City and its
history: the names and addresses of its residents, churches,
businesses, schools, police stations, courts, and other government
offices, often with the names of individuals associated with those
institutions; also included are maps, illustrations of buildings, and
advertisements.

Go to https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/new-york-city-directories#/?tab=about
and select a directory.
[MOD. NOTE: shortened URL - https://goo.gl/nhct22 ]

To browse the directory like a book, click the "View as Book" icon
which is under the open book image. Click each page or jump by opening
the drop down "Jump to" menu and clicking the page you want, or by
dragging the pointer at the bottom of the page, >from left to right.

Look for the Appendix, at one point renamed the City Register, a
classified listing made up of business card-style advertisements. This
is a useful index for finding the names and addresses of asylums, banks,
churches and burial grounds, courts, foreign consuls, hotels,
newspapers, police stations, post offices, schools

For additional information try this blog post (which is the source for
this article):
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2016/09/21/new-york-city-directories-free-online

Phyllis
Kramer, NYC & Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
VP Education, www.jewishgen.org/education