Garfield City Directory Collections
Garfield’s historical directory shelf is distributed. The strongest local starting point is the Garfield Historical Society finding aid, available through the library or society, because it names a Garfield Directory for 1897–1898. The New Jersey State Library’s directory list then supplies the larger Passaic-area sequence, where many titles include Garfield alongside Passaic, Clifton, Wallington, and other nearby places. The named runs are valuable, but they are not proof that every intervening year survives.
| Collection | Years | Where Held | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield Directory | 1897–1898 | Garfield Historical Society collection | Arrange access through the library or society |
| Passaic-area regional directories | 1886, 1889, 1891, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1895–96, 1897–99 | New Jersey State Library, Passaic segment III microfilm | Use the microform route and regional title |
| Griffith, Haring, Freeman, and Richmond regional titles | 1900–1917 named runs | New Jersey State Library, Passaic segments III, IV, and VI | Microfilm or listed shelf route |
| Annual Passaic, Clifton, Garfield, and Wallington directory | 1918 | UPenn listing, HathiTrust and library holdings | Verify scan rights or shelf access |
| Richmond annual directories | 1924–1925 | New Jersey State Library | Listed as Book |
| Garfield city-directory entries | 1927, 1937 | Established U.S. City Directories index | Account, library, or affiliate access may be needed |
Start with the collection that matches the date in question. The local 1897–1898 item is Garfield-specific. Later searches should not assume that a volume titled only for Passaic excludes Garfield. The State Library list is the shelf map for the verified runs, while the historical society can also connect a searcher with maps, street-name files, churches, businesses, and local organizations that make a sparse entry easier to interpret.
Note: A missing year in these named holdings is a collection gap, not evidence that a person or address was absent.
Garfield City Directory Regional Titles
Garfield appears in a long chain of Passaic-area books. The verified sequence begins with J. F. Morris’ 1886 Morris’ Passaic Directory, followed by the Passaic Daily News titles of 1889 and the 1890s. Joshua Griffith’s directories cover 1900 through 1903, Frank F. Haring’s volume appears in 1904, and W. L. Richmond’s named runs cover 1907 through 1917. These titles are search terms, not just bibliography. Use the regional wording exactly when asking for a reel or checking a catalog.
Garfield was a borough from 1898 and became a city in 1917. That history helps explain why a period volume may use a regional heading or a borough-era reference instead of the present municipal label. A surname search should therefore be paired with Garfield, Passaic, Clifton, and Wallington title variants where the known run includes them. Spellings matter in the same way. Transcribe the name as printed, then try initials, married names, and sensible spelling variants in the next source.
Garfield City Directory Library Shelf
Garfield Public Library, at 500 Midland Avenue, is the local reference point for the historical society collection and local-history questions. Its published hours are Monday through Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. The library advises checking current hours because its page carries a winter-hours heading. Call 973-478-3800 before a visit when a reel, finding-aid folder, or staff referral matters to the search.
The Garfield Historical Society finding aid is not an item-by-item online database. It says the collection is continuously added to and that a folder may hold one sheet or much more. Ask even if a name is not listed. Alongside the 1897–1898 directory, the finding aid names street-origin files, 1920, 1944, and 1958 maps, local histories, church material, school records, photographs, and Board of Trade papers.
The New Jersey State Library directory list explains its own location codes. “Book” means the special genealogy section; “Rare Book” requires a reference-desk request; and listed reels or fiche point to the microform rooms. Those access notes are especially useful when a catalog title does not reveal whether the item is a book, a reel, or a fiche.
Reading a Garfield City Directory
No individual Garfield directory page image was observed in the researched source set. That limit matters. A person entry can have different fields and symbols from one publisher or year to another, so no occupation, spouse, owner, boarder, or telephone notation should be assumed from memory. Once a page is available, begin with its front matter. Copy the entry exactly, preserve the volume title and page reference, and inspect the abbreviation key before translating a mark.
| Name | Transcribe the surname and given name exactly as printed, including initials or punctuation. |
|---|---|
| Address | Record the printed street and number, then compare it with the street or reverse section only if that volume has one. |
| Occupation or business | Verify whether the particular page actually supplies an occupation, business affiliation, or business designation. |
| Household notation | Check the volume’s key before interpreting a spouse, widow, owner, renter, or boarder notation. |
| Volume evidence | Keep the title, year, page, and image reference with the transcription. |
Three terms deserve care. A criss-cross directory is an address-organized directory, but no Garfield-specific reverse run or year was verified here. A householder index is a list organized around a household, if the volume includes one. An abbreviation key is the publisher’s explanation of its marks, usually in front matter. These are concepts to look for, not proof that every Garfield volume contains them.
Note: Photograph or transcribe the publisher’s key before relying on any abbreviated relationship, residence, or business mark.
Garfield Directory Dates and Names
Several verified dates help place a directory in the right civic setting. They should not be used to fill gaps between editions. Garfield changed from part of Saddle River Township to a borough on March 15, 1898, then became the City of Garfield on April 19, 1917. Older books can reflect that borough era or place Garfield within a Passaic-area title. The historical society also names documents that place a street or property in time without pretending they are resident rolls.
- 1897–1898: the historical society finding aid identifies a local Garfield Directory.
- March 15, 1898: Garfield became a borough, a useful term for catalog and newspaper searches.
- April 19, 1917: Garfield became a city; the 1918 regional directory follows that change.
- 1920, December 1944, and 1958: the finding aid lists Garfield maps for comparing old street context.
For place-name searching, the city history notes that the Jewell Street area was called Robertsford and that Robertsford Bridge later became Veterans Bridge. Those names can surface in period newspapers, maps, directories, and deeds. They are search variants, not an address conversion. No official Garfield-wide renumbering year or conversion table was located, so an unfamiliar number should be checked against the historical society’s street-name and map files.
Garfield School Directory Evidence
School material supplies a separate local layer when the question concerns a former classmate or a school-era household. The historical society finding aid lists Garfield Public Schools directories from 1960–61 through 1971–72, with some gaps. It also lists selected Garfield High School Quill issues from 1952 through 2002, plus reunion memory books, commencement material, and athletic programs. These records can place a person in a school community and date without treating an old listing as a current address.
The same collection holds church files, local businesses, Board of Trade records, and organization material. An entry in one source can suggest the next place to ask, but access rules belong to each custodian. For example, the finding aid names St. Peter’s Greek Catholic Cemetery and several congregations, yet no public consolidated member roll was verified. Contact the church, cemetery, library, or society for its own access process instead of assuming a name index is open.
Trace Garfield City Directories
A household trail works best when each source is kept in its own time frame. Federal census images are publicly available under the 72-year rule, with 1950 the newest public decennial census identified in the research. A directory may have been compiled at a different point in the year. Compare names, ages, relationships, and addresses rather than declaring that the two sources describe the same day. The directory gives a useful annual or near-annual clue; the census supplies a household snapshot when released.
- Find the earliest verified directory entry for the person, business, or address.
- Copy its name, street, volume title, year, and page without expanding abbreviations from memory.
- Check the next available named directory run, allowing for regional-title and spelling changes.
- Pair the closest public census year with the directory date and compare the household rather than one name alone.
- Use local newspapers, church or cemetery leads, and probate records only where their custodian can confirm the record.
Disappearance from a Garfield city directory does not establish a death, a move, or a vacant address. A volume may omit a year, the person may appear under a different spelling, or the publisher may have changed its coverage. For an address-centered trail, the collection details belong on the Garfield previous residents page; use the directory evidence there as one dated layer, not a complete occupant list.
Garfield Directory Local Search Terms
Garfield’s local history adds productive search terms beyond a surname. The historical society identifies Garden State Paper, Hammersley Manufacturing, Hartmann Embroidery, Heyden Chemical, Samuel Hird & Sons, Forstmann, the Old Brick Yard, Yoo-Hoo, and Hollingshead’s Livery. A directory search for one of these businesses, a church, or a local institution can reveal an address or a person’s listing that a bare name search misses. The city history says Garden State Paper at 950 River Drive closed in 2002, which makes it a dated business anchor rather than a current listing.
Garfield’s city history also identifies the city as a compact river community with industrial, school, religious, and civic records. Search historical labels as they appear in the source, then verify the result against the volume’s title and date. Careful transcription matters more than a long list of untested name hits.
Note: Historical directories can list residents, businesses, public offices, churches, institutions, and advertisements, depending on the specific volume.