The City Archives does hold some conveyance records on microfilm; however, most researchers will need to begin their search in later conveyances housed only at the Land Records Division. The Land Records Division of the Clerk of Civil District Court is located on the fourth floor of the Orleans Tower, 1340 Poydras Street.

The reference to the most recent deed of sale provides you with an entrance point into the title search. The reference will be in the form of, for example, “COB 409/FOL 361” where COB 409 refers to volume 409 of the deed books and FOL 361 refers to folio (page) 361 of that volume. References to more recent sales (beginning in 1989) use the Conveyance Division’s “instrument number.”

Indexes to both vendor (seller) and vendee (buyer) are available through 1988; indexing is computerized beginning with January 1, 1989.

The initial reference will give:

• the date of the sale
• the names of the buyer and the seller
• a legal description of the property
• the amount and terms of the sale
• a reference to the act of sale itself which can be found in the Notatial Archives of the Land Records Division
• a reference to the COB/FOL (or instrument number) where the previous sale was recorded

By repeating the process with the new COB/FOL and each prior reference, you will develop a “chain” of title outlining the history of ownership of the property.

In New Orleans conveyances are designed primarily to record the sale of the land in question. The structures or improvements on the land are generally not very well described. Many early records merely refer to the land “along with all buildings and improvements.” No more detailed description of these improvements is given. Once the deeds no longer refer to buildings and improvements, however, you can usually assume that you have reached a sale dating from before there was any construction on the lot.

You should be careful that you are dealing with the same piece of land from one transaction to the next. Don’t be misled by subdivisions or resubdivisions of a large piece of property, particularly if the same owner held several lots within the square. The price paid for the real estate may also provide you with clues. An identical piece of land with no improvements that resells in a relatively short period of time for a significantly higher price quite likely has had a new building erected on it.

You should not skip the chain-of-title portion of the research project. At the very least it will provide you with the overall framework of your property’s ownership. By working within this framework through all of the other materials described in this guide, you will not only save yourself time in the long run, but you will also help to protect yourself from hasty conclusions and other mistakes that it is all too easy to make when you jump into the middle of a research project without preparing the necessary groundwork.

The Notarial Archives is a separate division of the Clerk of Civil District Court’s Office, located on the third floor of the Orleans Tower, 1340 Poydras. The Notarial Archives houses the records of Orleans Parish notaries, 1733 – 1970, including acts of sale for all real estate (and, before the Civil War, for sales of enslaved persons).

The Acts of Sale housed at the Notarial Archives provide a more complete record of the transaction than that recorded in the Conveyance books held in the Land Records Division, described above. In many cases the act of sale will be bound with other documents such as tax and mortgage receipts and possibly copies of surveys made in connection with the sale or a previous sale.

Acts of sale are arranged by the notary and, thereunder, by date. If you have previously traced the chain of title in the Conveyance books, you will have recorded the notary’s name and the date of the act of sale, which will allow you to locate the act in the notary’s records. Annual Indexes to the notaries’ volumes are available through the Notarial Archives. Following 1970, notarial acts are retrieved by their Notarial Archives number, rather than by notary/ date.

Building Contracts

The Notarial Archives houses building contracts from 1767-1970. Indexing is available onsite at the Notarial Archives, as well as in the City Archives & Special Collections.

Plan Books

Also located at the Notarial Archives are the Plan Book Plans, more than 5,000 19th century watercolor lot surveys, many containing architectural drawings with floor plans, landscape designs, or other details (1803-1918, bulk 1830-1860).  Computerized indexing is available in-house at the Notarial Archives, and an older, published index, arranged by municipal district and square, with dates and other identifying information, is available onside in the City Archives, call number LOUR 976.31 O72p.

Information about the City Archives’ separate collection of plan books is available here.