List of mayors of Pittsburgh explained

Post:	Mayor
Body:	Pittsburgh
Flag:	Flag of the Mayor of Pittsburgh.svg
Flagcaption:	Flag of the mayor of Pittsburgh
Insignia:	Coat of arms of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.svg
Insigniasize:	100px
Insigniacaption:	City of Pittsburgh coat of arms
Incumbent:	Ed Gainey
Incumbentsince:	January 3, 2022
Style:	"The Honorable"
Termlength:	4 years
Formation:	1816
Inaugural:	Ebenezer Denny
Salary:	$113,942 (2020)^[1]
Website:	Office of the Mayor

The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh.^[2]

Prior to the 1816 city charter, the Borough of Pittsburgh had its council elect a chief burgess among themselves. After the borough was rechartered as a city, its first seven mayors were selected in a similar fashion as the chief burgesses had been under borough council. It was not until Mayor Samuel Pettigrew in the 1830s that general elections of popular vote were conducted among all the city's voters to determine who would hold the mayor's office. Pettigrew was both the last mayor selected by council and the first generally elected mayor of Pittsburgh. From 1901 to 1903 the state legislature took control of the city on the grounds of corruption by former Mayor William J. Diehl with the passage of the so-called "ripper bill" and appointed the unelected "recorders" Joseph Brown and Adam Brown, who were answerable only to the state government. Since 1903, all mayors have been popularly elected. The mayor is Democrat Ed Gainey.

Chief burgesses (1794–1813)

No.	Chief Burgess	Term	Notes
1	George Robinson	1794–c. 1800	Arrested on orders from President George Washington for rebel activity during the Whiskey Rebellion.
2	John Park	1800–1801
3	Dr. George Stevenson	1801–1802
4	Isaac Craig	1802–1803	Federalist^[3]
5	James O'Hara	1803–1804	Federalist	Formerly 6th Quartermaster General of the United States Army and Revolutionary War veteran.
6	General Pressley Neville	1804–1805	Revolutionary War veteran.
7	General John Wilkins	c. 1805–c. 1812	Formerly 7th and last Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army
8	William Steele	1812–1813

Mayors (since 1816)

No.	Mayor	Term	Party	Notes	Opposition
1	Ebenezer Denny #	1816–1817		Federalist	First "appointed" mayor after city charter, resigned from office with health concerns, Revolutionary War veteran.
2	John Darragh	1817–1825		Federalist	Appointed by City Council, formerly president of the bank of Pittsburgh.
3	John M. Snowden	1825–1828		Democratic-Republican, Jacksonian	Appointed by City Council, formerly president of the bank of Pittsburgh and county treasurer, edited the Pittsburgh Mercury.
4	Magnus Miller Murray	1828–1830		Jacksonian, Democrat	Appointed by City Council
5	Matthew B. Lowrie	1830–1831		Anti-Masonic	Appointed by City Council, brother was a U.S. Senator and son became Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
6	Magnus Miller Murray	1831–1832		Democrat	Appointed by City Council
7	Samuel Pettigrew	1832–1836		Democrat	Appointed by City Council, later won the first mayoral election
				Jackson and Clay^[4]
				Democratic and Workingmen's
8	Dr. Jonas R. McClintock	1836–1839		Democrat	Elected mayor at the age of 28, became the first man to assume the office from a general election. Later led a Union company in the American Civil War.
				City
				City Improvement
9	William Little	1839–1840		Independent
10	William W. Irwin	1840–1841		Whig (and Anti-Masonic)	Elected to congress and appointed United States Ambassador to Denmark after leaving office.
11	James Thomson	1841–1842		Whig
12	Alexander Hay	1842–1845		Whig	After office he was commander in the Mexican War, and captain in the Civil War.
				Volunteer
				Independent/Volunteer
13	William J. Howard	1845–1846		Whig	Longtime president of the "Guardians of the Poor", forerunner of the Salvation Army
14	William Kerr	1846–1847		Democrat
15	Gabriel Adams	1847–1849		Whig	After office was appointed state judge
16	John Herron	1849–1850		Whig	Before office was a captain in the Mexican War, hero of the Siege of Veracruz.
17	Joseph Barker	1850–1851		People's and Anti-Catholic	Elected while in jail for inciting anti-Catholic and anti-Masonic riots. The itinerant preacher was released to serve his one-year mayoral term. Barker repeatedly sought re-election, but failed. Later, he was decapitated when he got too close to a train.
18	John B. Guthrie	1851–1853		Democrat	Father of future mayor George W. Guthrie, served in Mexican War, was the longtime Customs Collector for Pittsburgh
19	Robert M. Riddle	1853–1854		Whig	Formerly Postmaster of Pittsburgh, edited the Commercial Journal
20	Ferdinand E. Volz	1854–1856		Whig	Oversaw cholera epidemic response
20	Ferdinand E. Volz	1854–1856		Whig-Democratic fusion (anti-Know Nothing)	Oversaw cholera epidemic response
21	William Bingham	1856–1857		American
22	Henry A. Weaver	1857–1860		Republican	After office served as U.S. Collector of Revenue for Pittsburgh
23	George Wilson	1860–1862		Republican	Formerly Pittsburgh Public Schools Director
24	Benair C. Sawyer	1862–1864		Republican	After office moved to Colorado then to California making a fortune in mining
25	James Lowry, Jr.	1864–1866		Union City
26	William C. McCarthy	1866–1868		Republican	Formerly a legend as a City fire fighter and commander, during administration ended the police practice of assuring "All is Well" on the hour, later served as city controller.
27	James Blackmore	1868–1869		Workingmen's	Formerly Chief Clerk of City
28	Jared M. Brush	1869–1872		Republican	Formerly city councilor, served as a minister during the Civil War.
29	James Blackmore	1872–1875		Democrat	Formerly Chief Clerk of City
30	William C. McCarthy	1875–1878		Republican	Formerly a legend as a Pittsburgh Fire Fighter and commander, during administration ended the police practice of assuring "All is Well" on the hour, later served as city controller.
31	Robert Liddell	1878–1881		Democrat	Before and after office was a brewer and liquor dealer.		Miles S. Humphreys
32	Robert W. Lyon	1881–1884		Democrat	Earned two Purple Hearts in the Civil War, oil businessman before being elected, worked in a steel mill after leaving office.		Miles S. Humphreys
33	Andrew Fulton	1884–1887		Republican	Former city councilman; temporarily retired to breed horses in Colorado; later served as county director of the Division of Weights and Measures		Robert Liddell
34	William McCallin	1887–1890		Republican	Former County Coroner and County Sheriff		Bernard J. McKenna
35	Henry I. Gourley	1890–1893		Republican	Former city councilman; became city clerk after office		John H. Bailey
36	Bernard J. McKenna	1893–1896		Democrat	Former city councilman and firefighter		John S. Lambie & F.C. Beinhauer
37	Henry P. Ford	1896–1899		Republican	Industrialist, with interests in knife manufacturing.		George W. Guthrie
38	William J. Diehl #	1899–1901		Republican	Former Deputy Sheriff; impeached on corruption charges		John C. O'Donnell
39	Adam M. Brown	1901		Republican	Former Court of Common Pleas judge; California Gold Rush speculator; earned the nickname of "Major" due to his military service	non-elected
40	Joseph O. Brown †	1901–1903		Republican	Former Allegheny County Prothonotary and city Director of Public Safety; died in office of a heart attack	non-elected
41	William B. Hays	1903–1906		Citizens / Democrat	Industrialist, with interests in coal and lumber		John C. Haymaker
42	George W. Guthrie	1906–1909		Democrat	Attorney; son of former mayor John B. Guthrie; served as United States Ambassador to Japan after office.		Alexander M. Jenkinson
43	William A. Magee	1909–1914		Republican	Former Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney and city councilman
44	Joseph G. Armstrong	1914–1918		Republican	Former city councilman and Allegheny County Coroner; nicknamed "Joe the Builder" for his extensive public works projects		Stephen G. Porter
45	Edward V. Babcock	1918–1922		Republican	Former city councilman; later served as Allegheny County Commissioner; personally purchased 4000acres for county parklands. Purchased thousands of acres of south Florida timberland, estate sold to the state for conservation in the 1990s.		William A. Magee
46	William A. Magee	1922–1926		Republican	Former City Council President		William N. McNair
47	Charles H. Kline #	1926–1933		Republican	Former State Representative and State Senator; convicted in 1932 by jury on 49 counts of corruption, but charges later overturned on appeal; resigned due to party pressure over corruption charges		James F Malone, Tom Dunn
48	John S. Herron	1933–1934		Republican	Former City Council President	non-elected
49	William N. McNair #	1934–1936		Democrat	Idealistic attorney; commended for his honesty, but criticized for his inability to get along with city council or the bureaucracy; arrested in 1935 for failing to authorize the return of a fine to an illegal gambler whose conviction had been overturned; resigned due to political infighting		John Herron
50	Cornelius D. Scully	1936–1946	Democrat	Former City Council President		Bob Waddell
50	Cornelius D. Scully	1936–1946	Democrat	Former City Council President	Harmar Denny
51	David L. Lawrence #	1946–1959	Democrat	Named one of the all-time 50 greatest American mayors; elected governor in 1958; former Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and U.S. Collector of Revenue; considered a "king maker" by Democratic Party Conventions due to his crafting of compromise candidates of U.S. Presidents Truman and the Kennedy/Johnson tickets.		Bob Waddell
					Tice Ryan
					Leo Kane
					John Drew
52	Thomas Gallagher	1959		Democrat	Former State Representative and City Council President; became mayor at age 75	non-elected
53	Joseph M. Barr	1959–1970	Democrat	Former State Senator		Will Crehan
53	Joseph M. Barr	1959–1970	Democrat	Former State Senator	Vince Rovitto
54	Peter F. Flaherty #	1970–1977		Democrat	Former city councilman; resigned after he was appointed Deputy U.S. Attorney General by President Carter; Democratic nominee for governor in 1978, and for U.S. Senate in 1974 and 1980, losing all three races by close margins		John Tabor
54	Peter F. Flaherty #	1970–1977		"Fusion" Democrat		Unopposed
55	Richard Caliguiri †	1977–1988		Independent Democrat	Former City Council President; won 1978 election as an independent, after initially deciding not to run due to a lack of support from party leaders; died in office from amyloidosis		Tom Foerster & Vince Cosetti
			Democrat			Fred Goehringer
			Democrat			Henry Sneath
56	Sophie Masloff	1988–1994		Democrat	Former City Council President; began her career in Pittsburgh politics as a Court secretary in 1938 at age 18	Uncontested
57	Thomas J. Murphy, Jr. ♥	1994–2006	Democrat	Former State Representative; lectures internationally on cities as a senior fellow at Washington, DC-based Urban Land Institute		Duane Darkins & Kathy Matta
					Harry Frost
					James Carmine
58	Bob O'Connor †	2006		Democrat	Former City Council President; died in office from a brain tumor.		Joe Weinroth & Titus North
59	Luke Ravenstahl ♥	2006–2014	Democrat	Former City Council President; became mayor at age 26, making him the youngest mayor of a top 100 city.		Mark DeSantis
59	Luke Ravenstahl ♥	2006–2014	Democrat		Dok Harris & Kevin Acklin
60	Bill Peduto ♥	2014–2022	Democrat	Former city councilman		Joshua Wander
60	Bill Peduto ♥	2014–2022	Democrat	Former city councilman	Unopposed
61	Ed Gainey ♥	2022–present		Democrat	Former state representative; became the first African-American mayor of the city

† Died in office; # Resigned from office ; ♥ Still living

Longest tenures

13 years (1946–1959) – David L. Lawrence
12 years (1994–2006) – Thomas J. Murphy, Jr.
11 years and 1 month (1977–1988) – Richard Caliguiri
10 years and 1 month (1959–1970) – Joseph M. Barr
9 years and 3 months (1936–1946) – Cornelius D. Scully
8 years and 9 months (1909–1914, 1922–1926) – William A. Magee
8 years (2014–2022) – Bill Peduto
7 years and 11 months (1817–1825) – John Darragh
7 years and 4 months (2006–2014) – Luke Ravenstahl
7 years and >3 months (1970–1977) – Peter F. Flaherty
7 years and <3 months (1926–1933) – Charles H. Kline

The listed terms are rounded to the nearest month.

References

Web site: City of Pittsburgh 2013 Operating Budget. City of Pittsburgh. 6 January 2014.
Web site: Code of Ordinances of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. City of Pittsburgh. 6 January 2014.
Book: Pencak, William . Pennsylvania's Revolution . Pennsylvania State University Press. State College, PA. 2010 . 978-0-271-03579-6. 245. "... in 1802, as a member of the Federalist Party, was elected ... chief burgess of the borough of Pittsburgh. This was an important position, roughly equivalent to a present-day mayoralty." .
Book: Curry, Leonard P. . The Corporate City: The American City as a Political Entity, 1800–1850 . 98 . Greenwood Press . Westport, CT . 1997.

Sources

Book: Holli. Melvin G.. Jones. Peter d'A.. Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980. 1981. Greenwood Press. Westport, CT. 0-313-21134-5. registration.
Office of Prothonotary

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania