Series IV. Public Works Records, 1804-1861, undated (bulk 1820s)
Scope and Contents note
Bulk in French. Documents pertaining to the construction and maintenance of New Orleans, including contracts, surveyor reports, payroll records, and offers. Contracts involve the construction of levees, bridges, streets, canals; leveling earth; draining ditches; paving; maintenance of public buildings; operating carts and steamboats; collection of market and wharfage fees. Surveyor reports (most to the mayor) concern public hazards and the repair needs of bridges, sidewalks, streets, walls, buildings, and levees; also ordinance violations and filth. Vicinities mentioned include Vieux Carre, Faubourg Marigny, Faubourg St. Mary, Bayou St. John, riverbanks. Payroll records cover city cart drivers, street cleaners, pavers, carpenters, Garde de Ville, masons, lamplighters. The majority includes names, with signatures or marks. Also included are offers and proposals for city work, and a list of gas lamps.
See also Series VII for bills, receipts, and promissory notes for city accounts, most of which pertain to construction and maintenance.