The assessment rolls proper begin in 1857. The volumes are arranged by municipal district, broken down by assessment districts, and then by square. Individual line entries record the name of the landowner, the number and measurements of the lot, the streets bounding the property (and the street fronting it), and the assessed value for both the assessment year and the previous year. Properties sold during the previous year are indicated along with the date of sale, the buyer's name, and, sometimes, the selling price.

Additional comments are sometimes included at the end of individual line entries. Such comments may indicate, for example, that new improvements were erected during the assessment year, or possibly that an old structure was demolished or burned. Following the list of land owners there may be a second list of those persons, usually renters, owning enslaved people (for antebellum volumes) or personal property within the square. These persons are usually also identified by their professions.

Researchers should note that in the 3rd Municipal District, assessment district boundaries (for districts 9 and 10) were used until 1880, when the practice shifted to the use of ward boundaries (wards 7, 8 and 9) instead.