Between 1836 and 1852 the city of New Orleans was divided into three semiautonomous municipalities united under a single mayor. Each municipality had its own council, police force, service providers, tax-collection entity, and note-issuing bank. Below are examples of currency from all three municipalities: the First (present-day French Quarter and Tremé), Second (present-day Central Business, Warehouse, and Lower Garden Districts), and Third (present-day Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods).
Norman’s Plan of New Orleans and Environs
ca. 1849; hand-colored engraving
by Shields and Hammond, engravers; Benjamin Moore Norman, publisher
The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Boyd Cruise, 1952.29
City of New Orleans, First Municipality, twenty-dollar note
May 25, 1842; engraving
by Freeman Rawdon, draftsman; Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson, printer (New Orleans)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.1
City of New Orleans, First Municipality, fifty-dollar note
May 25, 1842; engraving
by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson, printer (New Orleans)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.4
City of New Orleans, First Municipality, one-hundred-dollar note
May 25, 1842; engraving
by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson, printer (New Orleans)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.5
City of New Orleans, Second Municipality, twelve-and-a-half-cent note
December 1, 1839; engraving
by Draper, Toppan, Longacre, and Company, printer (Philadelphia or New York)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.11
City of New Orleans, Second Municipality, two-dollar note
December 1, 1839; engraving
by Draper, Toppan, Longacre, and Company, printer (Philadelphia or New York)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.15
City of New Orleans, Second Municipality, fifty-dollar note
August 14, 1843; engraving
by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson, printer (New Orleans)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.24
City of New Orleans, Second Municipality, twenty-dollar note
October 4, 1843; engraving
by Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and Edson, printer (New Orleans)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1952.27.23
City of New Orleans, Third Municipality, three-dollar note
1840s; engraving
by John V. Childs, engraver (New Orleans)
The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1989.59.2