Holladay Directory Collections by Year
The main shelf is the Utah City Directories Collection at the Marriott Digital Library. It describes books with residents, streets, businesses, organizations, institutions, and advertisements, arranged by geography and publisher. Holladay can appear in a Salt Lake City Suburban volume rather than a book named only for Holladay.
| Collection | Years or run | Where held | Access and people fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah City Directories | Variable; Holladay spatial facet | Marriott Digital Library | Free search and browse |
| Polk suburban/Holladay | 1957-1960; 1962-1976; 1977-78; 1979 listed; 1980 | Marriott collection | Scanned household and street snapshots |
| Polk Salt Lake City | 1896, 1897, 1906, 1909, 1915, 1926, 1929, 1935-1942 sampled | Marriott exhibits | Neighboring-area context |
| Reverse directories | Exact Holladay years not located | City Library, County Library, Marriott | Ask reference staff |
| Yearbooks | Exact school run not located | Schools and libraries | Student names and class years |
There is an unconfirmed suburban gap for 1961, and the history note also flags 1979 for independent confirmation. The inspected results are a guide, not proof that no local directory existed in either year.
Where Holladay Appears in Polk Books
R. L. Polk & Co. gives the clearest local sequence. The 1957 title explicitly includes Bountiful, Granger, Holladay, Kearns, Midvale, Murray, Sandy, and Woods Cross. Later suburban titles continue to identify Holladay among covered communities. Official Marriott metadata confirms items for 1959, 1975, a combined 1977-78 volume, and 1980.
Use the title and place coverage before assuming a hit belongs to Holladay. A Salt Lake City directory can serve as neighboring-area context, but the geographic page still needs checking. A surname in an alphabetic section and the same name in a street section is stronger than either alone. Modern address work belongs in the Holladay by-street record chain.
How to Read a Holladay Entry
A typical city directory entry is arranged under a surname and given name or initials. It may include a spouse or widow mark, occupation, street and number, and a publisher abbreviation for owner, renter, or boarder. A geographic section reverses the order, starting with street and number, then naming the listed householder. Verify the printed page rather than expanding an abbreviation from memory.
- Record directory year and publisher.
- Copy the name exactly, including initials.
- Save street spelling, number, occupation, and spouse notation.
- Find the abbreviation key before interpreting a mark.
- Check alphabetic and geographic sections.
A directory listing is not a legal title record. It shows that a person or business was associated with an address at a particular time.
- Geographic section
- An address-ordered part of a directory that reverses the name lookup.
- Householder index
- A list organized around the person or household chosen by the publisher.
- Abbreviation key
- The publisher’s guide to marks such as spouse, widow, renter, or occupation.
- Criss-cross directory
- A reverse address or telephone directory used to move from street to listed name.
City Library Archives and Microfilm
The City Library Archives holds local-history books and ephemera, photographs, maps and slides, legal documents, clippings, newspapers on microfilm, genealogy materials, scrapbooks, and pamphlets. It identifies Deseret News Weekly microfilm from June 15, 1850. Materials are generally read in the building. Scanners and readers are available, and archives@slcpl.org plus a Periodicals Reference Request form provide a remote start.
Review the library’s archives access information before planning a Holladay directory visit.
Holladay Branch of The County Library is at 2150 E. Murray Holladay Road, 801-943-4636. Its catalog does not expose a shelf-level Holladay directory list, so ask about interlibrary loan, HeritageQuest, obituaries, newspapers, and yearbooks. FamilySearch Library at 90 South West Temple is another genealogy channel; verify visitor hours before travel.
HeritageQuest and Census Pairing
HeritageQuest through the library adds census and documentary collections. The workflow uses census years 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. Individual schedules are generally public through 1950 under the 72-year rule. Later releases are not the same as open individual schedules.
- Copy the directory entry and page citation.
- Search the matching census year or nearest available year.
- Compare age, birthplace, occupation, spouse, children, and enumeration district.
- Test a nearby household and street line.
- Use a deed, obituary, photo, or probate record to strengthen the match.
A matching surname alone is weak. Age, household shape, street, and a second record make the identification more credible.
Sanborn Maps Beside a Directory
Digital Sanborn Maps offers available Utah towns and cities from 1867 through 1970. Search by old place label and street, then capture the sheet year and volume. Sanborn pages can show a building footprint, use, lot pattern, and street label. They do not supply a complete resident list.
The City Library Sanborn resource explains the map years and access route.
Pair a map with the legal description, not just a present ZIP. Holladay roads, canals, and old settlement labels can be better historic locators than current postal wording.
Holladay Photograph Collection
The Utah Historical Society’s Holladay Photograph Collection, Mss C 362, covers about the 1870s through the 1950s in three folders. Its container list names homes, stores, schoolhouses, churches, farms, the Holladay Telephone Building, a 1915 meat market, a 1930 theatre, a 1890s grist mill, Irving School built in 1911, and older residences. It can turn a directory name into a place or building lead.
Use the Holladay finding aid as an archival association, not a current contact list. A photograph label may reflect a donor’s description or historical event. Confirm a person and date with the directory, newspaper, deed, or archive citation.
When a Holladay Entry Says County
Holladay incorporated on November 30, 1999. Earlier directories and newspapers may use Holladay Settlement, Holladay’s Burgh, Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood Settlement, Salt Lake County, or Salt Lake City/Suburban. Annexations in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2015 expanded the city but did not rewrite old books. A pre-annexation entry can be local even when its place line does not say Holladay.
Search those labels with street variants, then compare parcel, plat, canal, school, business, or family details. A present ZIP should not be pushed backward onto a 1950 directory. Post-office naming and legal municipality could differ.
Note: Historical place labels are search terms, not interchangeable modern city names.
Trace One Holladay Household
Start with the earliest reliable directory page, then move forward and backward by a year or two. Note a move, spouse change, occupation, disappearance, or street-number change. Compare a directory with the nearest census, then bridge to deeds, tax appraisal cards, permits, obituaries, and probate. County Archives tax appraisal cards run from the 1970s through 1991; death searches cover 1847 through 1949; land certificates cover 1851 through 1895.
County Archives is by appointment at 385-468-0820. It also holds deeds, plats, court files, proof-of-residence material, maps, planning records, and historic collections. When a digital city directory ends, ask for the related series and retain its call number or page reference.