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A Quick Look At Boston's History

Learn more about the history behind the Mayors of Boston and the Boston City Council, as well as the City's major land acquisitions.

Past Mayors of Boston

Mayors

YEARS

NAME

YEARS

1822

NAME

John Phillips

YEARS

1823-1828

NAME

Josiah Quincy

YEARS

1829-1831

NAME

Harrison Gray Otis

YEARS

1832-1833

NAME

Charles Wells

YEARS

1834-1835

NAME

Theodore Lyman, Jr.

YEARS

1836

NAME

Samuel T. Armstrong

YEARS

1837-1839

NAME

Samuel A. Eliot

YEARS

1840-1842

NAME

Jonathan Chapman

YEARS

1843-1844

NAME

Martin Brimmer

More details: From the close of Mayor Brimmer's term until the election of Thomas A. Davis, the Chairman of the Board of Aldermen, William Parker, acted as Mayor. (January 6, 1845 to February 27, 1845).

YEARS

1845

NAME

Thomas A. Davis

More details: In the period between the death of Mayor Davis and the election of his successor, Josiah Quincy, Jr., Bensin Leavitt, the Chairman of the Board of Aldermen, acted as Mayor (November 22 to December 11, 1845).

YEARS

1846-1848

NAME

Josiah Quincy, Jr.

YEARS

1849-1851

NAME

John P. Bigelow

YEARS

1852-1853

NAME

Benjamin Seaver

More details: There were three ballots for the election of mayor for 1854, from December 12, 1853 to January 9, 1854. In the meantime, Benjamin L. Allen,the Chairman of the Board of Aldermen, acted as Mayor.

YEARS

1854-1855

NAME

Jerome V. C. Smith

YEARS

1856-1857

NAME

Alexander H. Rice

YEARS

1858-1860

NAME

Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr.

YEARS

1861-1862

NAME

Joseph Wightman

YEARS

1863-1866

NAME

Frederic W. Lincoln, Jr.

YEARS

1867

NAME

Otis Norcross

YEARS

1868-1870

NAME

Nathaniel B. Shurtleff

YEARS

1871-1872

NAME

William Gaston

YEARS

1873 (10 months)

NAME

Henry L. Pierce

More details: Pierce left his office on November 29, when he was elected to the US Congress.  For the rest of the year, Leonard R. Cutter, the Chairman of the Board of Aldermen, served as Acting Mayor.

YEARS

1873

(2 months)

NAME

Leonard R. Cutter

YEARS

1874-1876

NAME

Samuel C. Cobb

YEARS

1877

NAME

Frederick O. Prince

YEARS

1878

NAME

Henry L. Pierce

YEARS

1879-1881

NAME

Frederick O. Prince

YEARS

1882

NAME

Samuel A. Green

YEARS

1883

NAME

Albert Palmer

YEARS

1884

NAME

Augustus P. Martin

YEARS

1885-1888

NAME

Hugh O’Brien

YEARS

1889-1890

NAME

Thomas N. Hart

YEARS

1891-1894

NAME

Nathan Matthews, Jr.

YEARS

1895

NAME

Edwin Curtis

YEARS

1896-1899

NAME

Josiah Quincy

Years Name
Years

1900-1901

Name

Thomas N. Hart

Years

1902-1905

Name

Patrick A. Collins

More details: When Collins died, Daniel A. Whelton, the Chairman of  the Board of Aldermen, acted as Mayor for the rest of the year (September 15, 1905, to January 1, 1906).

Years

1905 (3 1/2 mos.)

Name

Daniel A. Whelton

Years

1906-1907

Name

John F. Fitzgerald

Years

1908-1909

Name

George A. Hibbard

Years

1910-1913

Name

John F. Fitzgerald

Years

1914-1917

Name

James M. Curley

Years

1918-1921

Name

Andrew J. Peters

More details: Peters was the first Mayor not eligible to succeed himself.

Years

1922-1925

Name

James M. Curley

Years

1926-1929

Name

Malcolm E. Nichols

Years

1930-1933

Name

James M. Curley

Years

1934-1937

Name

Frederick W. Mansfield

Years

1938-1944

Name

Maurice J. Tobin

Years

1945

Name

John E. Kerrigan

More details: Mayor Tobin resigned on January 4, 1945, when he was elected governor. By Chapter 4 of the Acts of 1945, John F. Kerrigan, the president of the Boston City Council served as Mayor from January 25, 1945, through the end of the year.

Years

1946-1949

Name

James M. Curley

Years

1947 (Five months)

Name

John B. Hynes

More details: City Clerk John B. Hynes served as temporary Mayor from June 26 to November 28, in 1947 during the absence of Mayor Curley.

Years

1950-1959

Name

John B. Hynes

Years

1960-1967

Name

John F. Collins

Years

1968-1983

Name

Kevin H. White

Years

1984-1993

Name

Raymond L. Flynn

More details: Mayor Flynn was appointed US Ambassador to the Holy See. He resigned as Mayor on July 12, 1993. Thomas M. Menino, president of the Boston City Council, served as Acting Mayor for the rest of the year.

 
Years Name
Years

1993-2013

Name

Thomas M. Menino

Years

2014-2021

Name

Martin J. Walsh

More details: Mayor Walsh resigned on March 22, 2021, when he was appointed to serve as Secretary of Labor under President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Kim Janey, President of the City Council, became Acting Mayor.

Years2021-
Name

Mayor Michelle Wu

More details: Michelle Wu was sworn in as Mayor of Boston on November 16, 2021.

History of the City Council

From 1822-1909, the Boston City Council was comprised of two bodies: the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council. Under the Charter of 1909, a new City Council was created with nine elected members. As of 1983, the City Council has thirteen members, including one each from nine districts and three at large.

NAMES OF MEMBERS

Major land acquisitions

Land acquisitions
Timeline:

By order of the Court of Assistants, March 9, 1636-37 (old style).

Timeline:
  • Set off from Dorchester on March 6, 1804, by St. 1803, c. 111.
Timeline:
  • Set off from Dorchester May 21, 1855, by St. 1855, c. 468.
Timeline:
  • January 6, 1868, by St. 1867, c. 359
  • Accepted September 9, 1867.
  • Roxbury received its name by order of the Court of Assistants October 8, 1630 (old style).
  • It was incorporated as a City March 12, 1846 by St. 1846, c. 95, accepted March 25, 1846.
Timeline:
  • January 3, 1870, by St. 1869, c. 349
  • Accepted June 22, 1869.  
  • Dorchester received its name by order of the Court of Assistants September 7, 1630 (old style).
Timeline:
  • January 5, 1874, by St. 1873, c. 303
  • Accepted October 7, 1873.  
  • Set off from Cambridge as the Town of Brighton February 24, 1807, by St. 1806, c. 65.
Timeline:
  • January 5, 1874, by St. 1873, c. 286, accepted October 7, 1873.
  • Settled July 4, 1629 (old style).  
  • It was incorporated as a city February 22, 1847, by St. 1847, c. 29, accepted March 10, 1847.
Timeline:
  • January 5, 1874, by St. 1873, c. 314, accepted October 7, 1873.
  • It was set off from Roxbury and incorporated as a town May 24, 1851, by St. 1851, c. 250.
Timeline:
  • January 1, 1912, by St. 1911, c. 469, and 583, accepted November 7, 1911.
  • It was incorporated as a town April 22, 1868.
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