Old Illinois county rural business directories ? (Chicago, Springfield: universities, associations, farm)

[xrhonda91]

Hello,

Does anyone know if Illinois counties had directories or some record
of rural businesses back in the 1950's, 60's, early 70's ? Did the county
Farm Bureau's possibly have them ? City Directories only covered the
city or town and old phone directories for most rural areas are next to
impossible to find... Thanks much. John

[cuba libre]

That sounds like something I would be interested in!

Check out the...

Rotary Chapters
Mason Halls
or
Chambers of Commerce
or
Local trade Associations

of whatever county you're interested in

[linicx]

The meetings were called Grange Meetings - they pertained to crop and cattle issues. The County Farm Bureau would have the names of members and perhaps an address. Most businesses were listed in the phone book. Unless you are wanted a Cook County business, I suspect you will have to spend some time in the state Library in Springfield. However, if you know the county and the township, it is possible the Township Supervisor can help. Some persons and business were located in unincorporated areas of the county. Some of that information may only appear in an obituary. If it is old enough the County Historical Society might know.

The really old records are archived. Whereas most state records area archived in State Universities scattered across the state, Chicago area records are in Cook County. Newspapers are a good source too. Most are on microfiche and available at local libraries. One other possible source is the Latter Day Saints. They also have a lot of resources they can tap.

If you are looking for a needle in a haystack it will take probably take a lot of time and perhaps a fair amount of money to find it. Old adoptions and sealed records are very difficult to open and even moreso since 9/11. .