There is good news in the future for genealogists whose ancestors lived in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The Regina Public Library has shipped its collection of Henderson’s City Directories, from 1908 to 1965, to the University of Alberta for digitization. Once digitized, the collection will be full-text searchable and free to view on the University of Alberta Library’s website, Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
The Regina city directories will also be available on the Regina Public Library website.
City directories are an absolute goldmine for genealogists and historians.
The Henderson’s Directories contain addresses of citizens and businesses, in addition to information on banks, churches, fraternal organizations, cemeteries, public officials, and schools.
Project completion date
According to a librarian at the Regina Public Library, it is still too early to know when the project will be completed. He did indicate, however, that it is not likely the Regina directories will be online before 2018.
The 1919 Henderson’s City Directory is the only one for Regina available now on the Peel’s Prairie Provinces website. Source: University of Alberta Libraries, Edmonton.
Research requests during interim
Since the library owns multiple copies of many of the Hendersons, they will only be missing a few years while waiting for the directories to appear online.
I was told this means the staff will be able to answer any city directory-related questions “from patrons far and wide,” while the project is ongoing. You can submit your inquiry to the Prairie Room History staff here.
Peel’s Prairie Provinces
If you have at least one ancestor who lived in the Prairie provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba, Peel’s Prairie Provinces should be part of your genealogy research toolbox.
Peel contains about 7,500 digitized books, more than 66,000 newspaper issues, 16,000 postcards, and 1,000 maps.
The Featured Collections contain the Henderson Directories for Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Redcliff, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Brandon, and the Northwest Territories.
Links to these directories and those for other Canadian cities are available in my Genealogy Research Toolbox.
