The Washington times., 1902-02-24
First Directory Published in Washington.

To one who is accustomed to merely
glance at building and by its number
| readily ascertain the location OF any other
| building on the same street, the difhdli-
ties encountered by the publishers OF the
| first directory of the city OF Washington
are not readily understood. 1t was issued
| in 1922 and at that time, there being no
numbers of any description, the locating
of a residence or place of business, SO
that the stranger would be able TO ma II
from the meagre directions contained IN
a directory was a task not to be hshtE
undertaken Still. the beginning had 10 De
made, and little book. containing less
than hundred pages. the covers theh-
selves measuring about four by six inches'
was published and launched on the mar
ket as the pioneer OF the complete accur-
ate and up-to-date volumes of the present
decade.
Small, incorrect, and inadequate as IL
was, the good people OF Washington were
Justly proud of their first city directory
issued over eighty years ago. 1t was
queer little volume, containing the names
of but few of the 80, odd people VINO
made the Capital City their home at
that time; in fact, as set forth by the
compiler on the title page. 1t contained
only the names Of the heads of families
and the members of Congress, and there
we're many omissions even among these
The wording, to the minds Of this genera
ton, was quaint. but the difficulties IN
der which the volume was issued were
enough to daunt even the most sanguine
There had been directories issued sew
eral years before in the then large cities
Of PHILADELPHIA New York and Balti-
more, but even these were experimental
affairs. and were not undertaken with any
degree of confidence. The first directory
of which there is any record was Issued
in 1893. in the city of Philadelphia, while
George Washington was President of the
United States and sold for 62i2 cents a
copy An enterprising firm in Baltimore
followed the example set by the Quaker
City publishers, and in 1902 a queer lit
tie volume appeared in that city, contain
ing several thousand names.
In both of these places. however, the
buildings were numbered after fashion
which was not the case in Washington,
and the compilers of the directories were
not forced to the many eXpedients used
by the first local firm In order to locate
in a few words, the exact place OF busi-
ness or residence Of those whose names
appeared in the directory To the bust
ness man the professional man, or those
simply wishing to locate friends in a
strange town, the Inconvenience. or per
haps the total inability to find the person
in question is practically overcome. The
modern directory, with its thousands of
names. the modern system of numbering
the various buildings in a regular and
invariable sequence-in fact. the advance
of civilization and the corresponding
increase in everything that tends to save
time and facilitate the moving of the
wheels of commerce has so simplified
matters that even child can easily To-
cate the address of person.
Notwithstanding its many defects, the
first directory was great innovation, and
from that small beginning has sprung the
present complete book. Not only was the
original directory key TO the residences
of the people of the District, but il was
also a fund of general information. The
title page of the book states that 1t is
a directory of the places of business and
residences of the heads of families and
members of Congress, and that it con-