Family and Local History: Resources

Includes passenger lists and naturalization records. Though these record collections are not as comprehensive as census records, the naturalization records in particular can contain fascinating information.

The Census is the most comprehensive source for information on U.S. residents. Conducted every ten years, the Census has always been a huge undertaking. Census schedules, the forms on which census enumerators recorded data, are available from 1940 and earlier.

Before there was Google, there were phone books. And before phone books, there were...city directories. These aimed to list residents of a city, sometimes with occupation and other info. The directories on Ancestry can be searched, but also browsed; they often contain maps, images, and statistics on a town.
Scanned city directories can also be found on Google Books, HathiTrust, and Internet Archive.