A subdivision of the Department of Public Property, it continued the work of the earlier Department of Police and Public Buildings. It was responsible for maintenance of City Hall and other municipal structures, including the House of Detention, Parish Prison and the various courthouses. Public squares also came under the jurisdiction of the Division, as did the City Archives. In the 1948 reorganization of city government, the duties of the Division of Public Buildings were transferred to the Department of Public Buildings & Parks and the Department of Institutions & Public Health.

The City Archives has only a handful of rather insubstantial records from the Division of Public Buildings; all are financial in nature. There are 7 journals of accounts (1914-1922), 3 ledgers of accounts arranged by names of contractors/vendors (1917-1919), 1 ledger arranged by institution (1917-1920), and two indexes to journals/ledgers (1920 and undated). All are manuscript volumes.

Essentially, these books record names of contractors and other vendors doing business with the Division with some reference to the nature of the work (usually without detailed description) and the amounts paid for their work. More useful information on the activities of the Division, though incomplete, will be found in the correspondence/subject files of the Department of Public Property.

Inventory