The town of Carrollton was located on the site of the former McCarty plantation, an enslaved sugar cane plantation in Jefferson Parish. The land was acquired by local real estate investors in 1831 who then hired surveyor Charles Zimpel to subsivide the land. It was dubbed the town of Carrollton in 1833. The Carrollton Railroad was the driving force behind the development of this area, located right outside New Orleans along the river. In the antebellum period, Carrollton had a police force, public market, school, entertainment industry, and cemetery.

The City of Carrollton was incorporated upriver from New Orleans in 1845. After the neighboring City of Lafayette was annexed to New Orleans in 1852, Carrollton became the seat of governemnt for Jefferson Parish and remained so until 1874. The Carrollton court house still stands today at 701 Carrollton Avenue. It has since been the site of numerous schools, including McDonogh 23, Benjamin Frankiln, Lusher, and currently Audubon Charter.

In 1874 the City of Carrollton was annexed to New Orleans and became the 7th municipal district of New Orleans, comprised of wards 16 and 17.