We have Leadville city directories from 1879-1918 (no city directories were done in 1893 or 1896). The city directories list residents (head of household) in alphabetical order with residence and often place of employment.Women usually are not listed unless they were widowed or owned a business.
Looking for beyond 1918?
The phone books from 1919-1955 are poor photocopies, and there are some pages missing, but they can still be useful. If you need any help with research in the phone books, please send your request to jennifer@lakecountypubliclibrary.org or aj@lakecountypubliclibrary.org.
Example Search in the Leadville City Directories
The city directories are available using this link.
Searching for the 318 W. 4th address in the Leadville City Directories provided an overwhelming amount of results. The earliest entry was in 1882, and the last was in 1918. Below is the list of names found in the city directories.
Residents of 318 W. 4th
1882-1885 - C. H. Livingston(e) (sometimes spelled Livingston, sometimes Livingstone)
1886 - Ernest E. Goodell
1887 - Clarence Hersey
1888 - didn't find any entries with search function
1889 - Charles Denison
1890 - Samuel Wilson
1891 - George Hewitt
1892 - Miss Mary Sexton
1893 - no city directories were made this year
1894- 1895 - Andrew H. Sebring and Rhodes Davis
1896 - no city directories were made this year
1897 - Alfred C. Davis
1898 - didn't find any entries with search function
1899-1902 - Michael Schneider
1903 - Philip Urban
1904 - Ed W. Fryer
1905 - William H. Lyons and James E. Phelan
1906 - Michael Schneider
1907 - George Thompson
1908 - Walter P. Rodd
1909 - Sam Minowitz
1910 - didn't find any entries with search function
1911 - J. Mark Kellerup
1912 - Harry S. Alexander, James R. and Thomas H. Hagadorn
1913-1918 - Jeremiah J. Dooley
Helpful Search Tips
It helps if you look at one of the first pages of the directory to see how addresses are listed (318 w 4th, 318 W 4th) and then search using the same format
The optical recognition in these files is not perfect - sometimes names and addresses can be missed
When you find a name in one directory, try looking up the same name in the next directory before you address search, just in case the same person/family lived there several years
Keep a list of who you find in the city directories - you can search names in the newspapers and might find more information!
If you come across an abbreviation that you aren't sure what it means, look in the front of the city directory for the list of abbreviations