Skip to main content

Records of bonds, notes, and other securities or currencies issued by the city of New Orleans and its subdivisions, 1830-1861

 Series

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection comprises most of the records related to the city's debt and bonds from 1830 to 1980. Each agency or department responsible for monitoring and reporting on the debt has their records collection in their respective series.

  • The first series "Records of bonds, notes, and other securities or currencies issued by the city of New Orleans and its subdivisions, 1830-1861" includes debts incurred during the muncipality period by the first, second, and third municipalities. Comptroller records from the second municipality are also included.

  • The second and third series overlap with the first series chronologically. The Comptroller of the Sinking Fund was a city wide position. Remnants of the municipality government meant the sinking fund records are divided between another series, the Records of the Sinking Fund of the Second Municipality, 1836-1848.

  • The Board of Liquidators records begin in 1850 and include minutes of the board, in addition to a record of expenditures by each municipality.

  • The reunificiation of the city in 1852 brought a degree of order to the city's finances generated by the three municipalities. The Commissioners of Consoldiated Debt holds the records until 1880 of bonds, debts, and expeditures by the city.

  • Finally, the Board of Liquidation records begin in 1928 and include information on various bond issues, subject files, correspondence, and other records.




Dates

  • Creation: 1830-1861

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Available on microfilm to registered researchers by appointment. Request by call number.

Requesting Materials

Biographical / Historical

In 1830 the city of New Orleans issued its first municipal bonds, in the amount of $300,000. Additional bond issues followed through the year 1835 and, after the division of the city in 1836, each of the three municipalities issued various securities to fund its own operations. Governmental efforts to consolidate and liquidate this debt, beginning in 1836, are documented in the records of the General Sinking Fund, the Sinking Fund of the Second Municipality, the Board of Liquidators, the Commissioners of the Consolidated Debt, and, later, the Board of Liquidation, City Debt.

Information on the authorization, issuance, and administration of the various debt issues as well as small note currency circulations can be obtained from municipal ordinances and from the general financial records of the Comptrollers and Treasurers of the city and its municipalities. There are, however, several record books that appear to have been kept solely for the purpose of recording various aspects of these financial obligations. These documents have been arranged together in this series and are described as subseries or as individual items. All are manuscript volumes.

Extent

12 Volumes (12 volumes, available on 1 roll of microfilm)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the City Archives Repository

Contact:
City Archives & Special Collections
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans LA 70112
504-596-2610