Essentially the incoming correspondence of the Conseil de Ville, they are letters, for the most part, but also includie petitions of citizens for various improvements and some reports on sundry subjects. Correspondents include Presidents James Madison and Andrew Jackson; Governors William C.C. Claiborne, Jacques Villere, Henry Johnson (also letters from his terms as U.S. Senator), and A.B. Roman; and such prominent citizens as Daniel Clark, Edward Livingston, Bernard Marigny, and Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The subject matter of these communications is quite varied, ranging from issues of public health, to interests of private property, to the defense of the city against the British invaders, and to the establishment of protestant congregations in New Orleans. Several of the letters are accompanied by drawings, most notably a set of four watercolor plans annexed to an 1816 essay on flood control written by Latrobe.

The documents are numbered sequentially, beginning with number 466 in 1804. Brief filing notes were added to the documents along with these document numbers. Some numbered documents actually are made up of two or more individual letters and/or enclosures. This series of documents is a continuation of the Petitions, decrees, and letters of the Cabildo, 1770-1803, which began the document numbering sequence noted above. Researchers should view the combined inventory of the letters, petitions, and decrees from the Cabildo, Conseil Muncipal, and Conseil de Ville (1770-1835) for more information about about these volumes.