HIS HONOR THROUGH THE AGES--THE MAYORS OF LOS ANGELES

Here is a list of the 38 mayors of Los Angeles since 1850, when California became a state, the pueblo became an incorporated city and the first elected mayor took office. Included are the dates they served and highlights of their terms.

Alpheus P. Hodges 1850-51 Hodges was a leading physician and acted as both mayor and coroner. The City of Los Angeles was incorporated on April 4, 1850. The first newspaper, the Los Angeles Star, appeared in 1851. The population of the pueblo was 1,610, with an additional 3,530 citizens residing in the surrounding areas. A census of the townsfolk showed 512 who came from from 29 states and 699 who hailed 28 countries. As for trade: 650 were laborers, 138 farmers, 65 ranchers and 32 merchants. Benjamin D. Wilson 1851-52 Wilson organized the first Los Angeles police force. President Millard Fillmore appointed him Indian agent for the area and in 1855 and 1869 he was elected to the California Senate. Mount Wilson bears his name. John G. Nichols 1852-53, 1856-59 Nichols lived in the first brick house built in Los Angeles, and his son was the first American child born in Los Angeles. The first Los Angeles infirmary was opened by the Sisters of Charity and the second schoolhouse was erected. Grave troubles with desperados resulted in a wave of lawlessness and numerous hangings. Antonio F. Coronel 1853-54 During his tenure as mayor, it was the practice of the citizenry to gather in the Plaza at the sound of a gong and vote on general matters by the raising of hands. Coronel established the first Department of Public Works. Stephen C. Foster 1854-55, 1856 Foster created the Office of Water Overseer and used chain gangs for public works. He was a member of local vigilante groups formed to help control crime and once resigned from his office to head a lynch mob. Thomas Foster 1855-56 Foster was a physician and responsible for the first schoolhouse to be built at Spring and 2nd streets. In 1856 the Board of Education opened another school on Bath Street, now known as North Main Street. There were also private schools, including that of the Sisters of Charity at the corner of Alameda and Macy streets. Damien Marchessault 1859-60, 1861-65 Marchessault was known as an aggressive mayor and tried to separate Southern from Northern California and form two states. After his term he became involved in criticism over faulty wooden water pipes and committed sucide in the Council Room in 1868. Henry Mellus 1860 When Mellus became mayor, the census showed the population of the city to be 4,399. County gold mines were producing $12,000 a month and the first telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the eastern United States began operation. Jose Mascarel 1865-66 During this period, pioneer oil companies were being formed and President Lincoln was assassinated. MacArthur Park grounds were offered for public sale at 25 cents per acre, but there were no takers. Cristobal Aguilar 1866-68, 1871-72 Aguilar signed the ordinance that created the park site eventually known as Pershing Square. The Los Angeles Fire Department put into action the city’s first steam fire engine, two more public schools opened and a wool mill flourished at 6th and Figueroa streets. Joel H. Turner 1868-70 Los Angeles’ major hotel, Pico House, was built at a cost of $50,000, plus $35,000 for furnishings. The first high school was built and 34,000 fruit and nut trees began springing up. In 1870 there were 35 lynchings and 40 legal hangings. The population was 5,614, served by 110 saloons. James R. Toberman 1872-74, 1878-82 The Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles Herald, the Athletic Club, the Los Angeles branch of the University of California, several Protestant churches and the first synagogue were organized. Toberman cut taxes from $1.60 to $1 per $100 of assessed value. Main Street was paved and the city turned on its new electric lights. Prudent Beaudry 1874-76 Beaudry pioneered welfare, established hospitals, organized the Temple Street rail line, helped develop the city’s water system and laid down 12 miles or iron pipes. Beaudry owned Bunker Hill which he purchased in 1867 for $517. St. Vibiana’s Cathedral was built in 1876. Frederick MacDougall 1876-78 MacDougall was a physician and appointed the first chief of police. The Los Angeles Bar Assn. was formed and the first kindergarten was opened. Bernard Cohn 1878 Appointed mayor for two weeks after MacDougall died in office. Cameron E. Thom 1882-84 The population of Los Angeles was more than 31,000 and the last volunteer fire company was organized. A parcel of 746 acres was set aside for Elysian Park. The Board of Trade and the Historical Society of Southern California were founded. Edward F. Spence 1884-86 The Los Angeles City Fire Department, with salaried employees, was organized. The new city hall was erected on 2nd Street. Railroad costs were down, encouraging immigration and creating the city’s most fantastic real estate boom. William H. Workman 1886-88 Workman initiated the paving of Main, Spring, Hill and Fort streets. He helped establish the city library system and gave two-thirds of the land for Hollenbeck Park. Hollywood was laid out and Redondo established. Whittier was settled by a colony of Quakers from the east. Enrollment in public schools totaled 10,970 children. John Bryson 1888-89 Bryson was a carpenter and built the Bryson Building at 2nd and Spring streets at a cost of $222,000. Fort Street had its name changed to Broadway. Orange County was formed. Average monthly wages in the city were $88.55 for men and $75.38 for women. Terminal Island opened as a beach resort. Henry T. Hazard 1889-92 Hazard was city attorney before becoming mayor and was later a state legislator. As mayor, he put through a law that still stands, requiring the deposit of public funds by the city treasurer. Oil discoveries within city boundaries started an oil boom. Thomas E. Rowan 1892-94 During his term of office, the Ebell and Jonathan clubs were founded. The Pasadena-Los Angeles electric railroad was incorporated. A financial panic closed two banks, and Rowan helped to raise funds for a public-works program to ease the situation. Frank Rader 1894-95 The last of the horse-drawn streetcars gave way to the electric railway. The Southern California Edison Co. was organized and Col. Griffith J. Griffith made a Christmas gift to the city of 3,500 acres for a park. Building permits reached an evaluation of $5 million. Meredith P. Snyder 1896-98, 1900-04, 1919-21 Snyder was active in the movement to provide Los Angeles with a harbor by acquiring the shoestring strip connecting Los Angeles with San Pedro and Wilmington and by consolidation of these two towns with Los Angeles in 1909. The 3rd Street tunnel was bored through Bunker Hill in 1901. Ten thousand telephones were put in use by the year 1901. Fred Eaton 1898-1900 Los Angeles had grown to more than 100,000 people, with 200 automobiles owned by proud citizens. San Pedro harbor development was approved by Congress. Along with William Mulholland, Eaton conceived the idea of the Owens River Aqueduct, just before the city purchased the water rights from a private company for two million dollars. Owen C. McAleer 1904-06 The Central Outfall Sewer was placed in service and discharge into the ocean began at a depth of 16 feet. The Philharmonic Auditorium was built and Immaculate Heart College began holding classes. Special classes for the blind and deaf children were initiated into the public school system. Arthur C. Harper 1906-09 Harper initiated plans for the new civic center. The predecessor of the Southern California Gas Co. was organized, and the first motion picture studios started operation. A recall drive began, and Harper resigned as mayor while it was in progress. His dishonesty was too repugnant for the city, especially after cronies tried to steal the bed of the Los Angeles River for private purposes. William Dennison Stephens 1909 Filled in for less than two weeks after Harper resigned. George Alexander 1909-13 Alexander closed an infamous vice district for the first time in the city’s history. After the bombing of the Times Building in 1910, he hired the famous detective William J. Burns to investigate. Wilmington, San Pedro and Hollywood were consolidated with the city. Griffith Observatory was constructed and the Los Angeles Aqueduct was completed. Henry R. Rose 1913-15 The Owens River Aqueduct was dedicated, the first municipal wharf was built, the cornerstone for the Southwest Museum building was lain and the La Brea Tar Pits area was donated to the county by Capt. George Allen Hancock, whose father had purchased the land in 1860 for $2.50 an acre. Charles E. Sebastian 1915-16 Sebastian rose to the rank of police chief before he became mayor. During his short term, the Palms and the greater portion of the San Fernando Valley were annexed. He resigned as mayor due to adverse publicity resulting from the publication of letters of a damaging and personal nature. Frederick T. Woodman 1916-19 Pershing Square was dedicated in honor of Gen. John J. Pershing. Westwood was annexed by Los Angeles, and the Bureau of Power and Light began operation. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert, and the Brotherhood Players organized to establish what was eventually the Hollywood Bowl, built on a former Indian campsite. George E. Cryer 1921-29 Cryer was a police officer and a lawyer before he became mayor. The present city hall and library, the Olympic Auditorium and the Coliseum were erected. The population of Los Angeles had reached 1 million, including 49,000 real estate agents. Air mail and passenger service opened between New York and California. John C. Porter 1929-33 A railway station agent for 15 years, Porter engaged in a highly successful second-hand automobile business. During Porter’s term, budget reductions offered tax relief during the Depression. A $222-million bond issue was approved by voters for the Colorado River Aqueduct, and construction started in 1932. Frank L. Shaw 1933-38 During Shaw’s term, the City Employees Retirement System was inauguarated. Union Station and the Federal Building were constructed. The mayor’s annual salary was $10,000 during the depths of the Depression. He handed out keys to the city and put his brother on the payroll as “private secretary.” He also appointed a dishonest police chief and acquired for the civic center a piece of Times property at four times its assessed valuation. A recall sent him and his police chief into early retirement. It has long been believed that the overthrow of the Shaw machine drove the mob out of Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Fletcher Bowron 1938-53 Bowron was one of Los Angeles’ most beloved figures. He developed a new judiciary calendar system and was a vigorous law-and-order mayor. Smog first became an issue in Los Angeles, and a five-story garage was constructed under Pershing Square. Norris Poulson 1953-61 Poulson fostered progress in freeway development, smog control, civic center construction work and the rehabilitation of the downtown areas. Los Angeles voted to expand the International Airport to meet the challenge of the jet age. Sam Yorty 1961-73 He was known as “traveling Sam.” He was out of town 372 days in a 3 1/2-year period. He helped to start a Cultural Heritage Board, reduced city property taxes, won combined trash collection, assisted in bringing the city a music center and zoo, helped merge city and county health departments and jails, and assisted in forming youth and senior citizen groups. He advanced civil rights by naming blacks and Mexican-Americans to his staff and public bodies. Los Angeles was a city under siege. By the ‘60s, the city was preoccupied with riots and racial tension, growing Chicano activism in East Los Angeles and student protests. Tom Bradley 1973-present Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles. He had run and lost in a close race against Yorty in 1969, when racial tensions of the turbulent 1960s spilled over into the mayoral campaign. Bradley had served as a member of the Los Angeles Police Department and retired as a lieutenant after 20 years to pursue a career in law and politics. He was the first black elected to the City Council, representing a racially mixed southwest Los Angeles district. Bradley has emphasized making Los Angeles a “world-class city” and worked to rebuild a deteriorating central business district and to expand the airport. He points to the peaceful and financially successful 1984 Summer Olympics as one of the highlights of his Administration. His low-key style of trying to keep harmony among divergent groups in the city played well for several years, although some have attacked that style as ineffective in recent years. Sources: Mayors of Los Angeles, by W.W. Robinson; All Star Cast: an Anecdotal History of Los Angeles, by Stephen Longstreet.