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] (1834–35) |
Democratic and Workingmen's (1835–36) |
8 |
Dr. Jonas R. McClintock |
1836–1839 |
Democrat (1836–37) |
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 (1837–38) |
City Improvement (1838–39) |
9 |
William Little |
1839–1840 |
Independent[a] |
|
|
10 |
William W. Irwin |
1840–1841 |
Whig (and Anti-Masonic)[b] |
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 (1842–43) |
After office he was commander in the Mexican War, and captain in the Civil War. |
|
Volunteer (1843–44) |
Independent/Volunteer (1844–45) |
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 (1854–55) |
Oversaw cholera epidemic response |
|
Whig-Democratic fusion (anti-Know Nothing) (1855–56) |
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[c] |
Former city councilman and Allegheny County Coroner; nicknamed "Joe the Builder" for his extensive public works projects |
Stephen G. Porter[c] |
45 |
Edward V. Babcock |
1918–1922 |
Republican[c] |
Former city councilman; later served as Allegheny County Commissioner; personally purchased 4,000 acres (16 km2) for county parklands. Purchased thousands of acres of south Florida timberland, estate sold to the state for conservation in the 1990s. |
William A. Magee[c] |
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 |
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 |
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 |
"Fusion" Democrat[d] |
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 |
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 |
Dok Harris & Kevin Acklin |
60 |
Bill Peduto ♥ |
2014–2022 |
Democrat |
Former city councilman |
Joshua Wander |
Unopposed |
61 |
Ed Gainey ♥ |
2022–present |
Democrat |
Former state representative; became the first African-American mayor of the city |
Tony Moreno |