The 6"x9" 1946 "village directory" of Custerdale is arranged in city directory fashion, with an alphabetical list of names, a cross-listing by address, a classified business directory of Manitowoc merchants and business firms, and a list of Manitowoc churches. There are also numerous business and professional advertisements. Custerdale was a government defense housing project built at the western city limits of Manitowoc during World War II to provide temporary homes for shipyard workers and other defense plant workers. In the center of the directory there is a double-page hand drawn map of Custerdale as the streets and blocks appeared in 1946. At this time there were still only two streets in Custerdale -- Circle Street and Straight Street. Most of the houses were located along small alleys, and addresses were designated with block numbers and house numbers rather than by a street name. After the war, 140 of the apartment units were moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin to relieve a housing shortage there. In 1954, the plan of Custerdale was changed as new streets named after Manitowoc-built submarines were added, and another 85 of the housing units were moved within Custerdale to conform to the new layout.