More California Sacholes: A History of Los Angeles Mayors

Life for Antonio Villaraigosa is not easy.  He wants to shut down the city a couple days of the month to avoid a complete meltdown.  Long story short - he just is not the businessman that former Mayor Richard Riordan was in the 90s.  But once again, we take a look back in history to a time when it all began for California - the 1850s were a treacherous time to walk the streets in Los Angeles.  Little attention to law as we know it was paid much tribute, and there wasn't a day that went by without someone getting blown away.  Ok, so that hasn't changed... But while there is little in the way of information on L.A.'s 1st official mayor, Alpheus Hodges (nobody even knows his birthday), Benjamin Wilson certainly made a name for himself by marrying a rich daughter of a wealthy man and bought up most of what is now known as meth-friendly Riverside County.  A few years later, Stephen C. Foster would take the seat as L.A. mayor, but would leave his position in favor of joining a lynch mob.  Nice.  

When he left office in 1993, many agreed that history would be kind to Mayor Tom Bradley.  Under his helm, LA had one of its finest events ever when it hosted the 1984 Olympics, which was by all measures, a huge success.  However, when it came down to pure stoic business poise, it was Richard Riordan who kept his nose clean (from what we know) and led LA to good times during his tenure.

1 Alpheus P. Hodges July 1, 1850 – May 7, 1851 1

2 Benjamin D. Wilson May 7, 1851 – May 4, 1852 1

3 John G. Nichols May 4, 1852 – May 3, 1853 

4 Antonio F. Coronel May 3, 1853 – May 4, 1854 

5 Stephen C. Foster May 4, 1854 – January 13, 1855
– Stephen C. Foster January 25, 1855 – May 9, 1855

6 Dr. Thomas Foster May 9, 1855 – May 7, 1856
– Stephen C. Foster May 7, 1856 – September 22, 1856
– Manuel Requena, Council President September 22, 1856 – October 4, 1856
– John G. Nichols October 4, 1856 – May 9, 1859

7 Damien Marchessault May 9, 1859 – May 9, 1860 

8 Henry Mellus May 9, 1860 – December 26, 1860†

 – William Woodworth, Council President December 27, 1860 – January 7, 1861

 – Damien Marchessault January 7, 1861 – May 6, 1865 

9 Joseph Mascarel May 5, 1865 – May 10, 1866

10 Cristóbal Aguilar May 10, 1866 – December 7, 1868 

11 Joel Turner December 9, 1868 – December 9, 1870
– Cristóbal Aguilar December 9, 1870 – December 5, 1872 

12 James R. Toberman December 5, 1872 – December 18, 1874

13 Prudent Beaudry December 18, 1874 – December 8, 1876 2

14 Frederick A. MacDougal December 8, 1876 – November 16, 1878

15 Bernard Cohn November 21, 1878 – December 5, 1878 

– James R. Toberman December 5, 1878 – December 9, 1882

16 Cameron E. Thom December 9, 1882 – December 9, 1884

17 Edward F. Spence December 9, 1884 – December 14, 1886 

18 William H. Workman December 14, 1886 – December 10, 1888

19 John Bryson December 10, 1888 – February 25, 1889 

20 Henry T. Hazard February 25, 1889 – December 5, 1892
– William H. Bonsall, Council President December 5, 1892 – December 12, 1892 

21 Thomas E. Rowan December 12, 1892 – December 12, 1894 

22 Frank Rader December 12, 1894 – December 16, 1896 

23 Meredith P. Snyder December 16, 1896 – December 15, 1898 

24 Fred Eaton December 15, 1898 – December 12, 1900

 – Meredith P. Snyder December 12, 1900 – December 8, 1904 

25 Owen McAleer December 8, 1904 – December 13, 1906 

26 Arthur C. Harper December 13, 1906 – March 11, 1909 

27 William D. Stephens March 15, 1909 – March 26, 1909 

28 George Alexander March 26, 1909 – July 1, 1913 

29 Henry Rose July 1, 1913 – July 1, 1915 

30 Charles E. Sebastian July 1, 1915 – September 2, 1916

31 Frederick T. Woodman September 5, 1916 – July 1, 1919

– Meredith P. Snyder July 1, 1919 – July 1, 1921

32 George E. Cryer July 1, 1921 – July 1, 1929

33 John C. Porter July 1, 1929 – July 1, 1933

34 Frank L. Shaw July 1, 1933 – September 26, 1938

35 Fletcher Bowron September 26, 1938 – July 1, 1953 

36 C. Norris Poulson July 1, 1953 – July 1, 1961

37 Samuel W. Yorty July 1, 1961 – July 1, 1973

38 Thomas Bradley July 1, 1973 – July 1, 1993 

39 Richard J. Riordan July 1, 1993 – July 1, 2001 

40 James K. Hahn July 1, 2001 – July 1, 2005 

41 Antonio Villaraigosa July 1, 2005 – present