A town book may or may not provide addresses and phone numbers. It is not a city directory. It's a bit closer to a yearbook, but historical. One client I worked for came from a small town in the deep south. I was surprised to find many volumes of Town Books at the Los Angeles Public Library which included black and white pictures of some of his ancestors who he best remembered as a small child! The stories were very much about how these citizens contributed to their community so in them we found out who was the big deal at the Baptist Church as well as who was the temporary mail carrier!
Town Books are usually written and organized and published by people who are VERY PROUD, VERY PATRIOTIC about their town.
They are often put in special collections or archived so you may have to ask about them and order them to be brought out in advance. Ask large out of town libraries as well because who knows how it is that Los Angeles Public got copies from this small town!
A TOWN BOOK can give you a snapshot of the town as it existed around the publication date!
