New Orleans Cotton Exchange

The New Orleans Cotton Exchange was established in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1871 as a centralized forum for the trade of cotton. It operated in New Orleans until closing in 1964. Occupying several buildings over its history, its final location, the New Orleans Cotton Exchange Building, is now a National Historic Landmark. The New Orleans Cotton Exchange was conceived and financed by a group of cotton factors at a time when one-third of the entire production of cotton in the United States was sent through New Orleans. The Exchange sought to bring order to what was a highly speculative and often erratic cotton pricing system by providing a centralized trading office where people involved in the cotton business could obtain information...