City directories are a great source for genealogy information. To the best of my knowledge, the Tennessee State Library and Archives have all the Nashville city directories beginning 1853-54. (The Nashville city directory was not published during the Civil War years.) I have also found the Nashville city directories at the Metro archives and upstairs at the metro library in downtown Nashville. At the state archives, they also have Chattanooga city directories and perhaps others. City directories contain clues and interesting information for the genealogist. They are books with names of persons who lived or worked in the city and businesses within the city. The business listing may list the owner/s of the business and perhaps the entire executive staff. Very often, addresses of both work and home are listed following a person's name. Also listed are occupations of individuals or whether a person was a student at a nearby university. Did the census taker miss your relative? Try looking him up in the city directory to confirm his existence in that locality. Many times, the widower or widow was listed exactly as that....so you may be able to pinpoint a time frame when the spouse died. I have also found the name and actual date of death included in the city directory listing for one of my ancestors where his name would normally appear in the directory if he was living. Did the lack of the 1890 census leave a big hole in your family tree? Try looking at the city directories. I have found daughters/sons who were old enough to have jobs and they are named in the directory. I can connect them with their parents because the home address for them is the same as their parents. Of course, further research would be needed to actual confirm this relationship, but its a safe bet they are related in some way if they are living in the same house. Wondering when your family moved from Nashville? Check the city directories to find their names and then pinpoint the year they are no longer in the city directory. Many city directories also had a section which was listed by street name. In this way, you can look up a street address to find out the name of the business or homeowner at that address. Do you have an address on the birth/death certificate and cannot figure out its connection to your ancestor? Check out the street section of the city directory to find clues. You may find the address is that of another relative or an infirmary.