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 about market conditions and prices.

Concerned that trading of cotton in New York would be more advantageous to buyers than sellers, and eager to modernize their operations,[3] New Orleans merchants agreed to form their own exchange.

The Exchange was notable for developing advanced techniques for gathering information about various aspects of the cotton market.

[5] Led by Col. Henry G. Hester, for many years the secretary of the Exchange, reports were compiled and then transmitted by telegraph, a novel method at the time.

[5] The Exchange had its 1871 opening in a series of rented rooms in an existing building at Gravier and Carondelet streets.

[8] The renowned French artist Edgar Degas painted the picture of a cotton office, seen here, in 1873 while visiting his mother's Louisiana relatives.