List of mayors of Charleston, South Carolina

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The mayor is the highest elected official in Charleston, South Carolina. Since the city's incorporation in 1783, Charleston's chief executive officer has been elected directly by qualified voters, except for the years 1867–1868, when mayors were appointed by Federal officials. The position was known as intendant until 1836, and has been known as "mayor" since that time.[1] In 2012, the annual mayoral salary was $162,815.90.[2]

Intendants and Mayors of Charleston, South Carolina

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# Mayor Party Sworn in Left office Comments
1 Richard Hutson 1783 1785
2 Arnoldus Vanderhorst 1785 1786
3 John Faucheraud Grimké 1786 1788[a]
4 Rawlins Lowndes 1788[b] 1789
5 Thomas Jones 1789 1790
(2) Arnoldus Vanderhorst 1790 1792
6 John Huger 1792 1794
7 John Bee Holmes 1794 1795
8 John Edwards 1795 1797
9 Henry William de Saussure Federalist 1797 1799 Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1791
Attorney, indigo planter and slave owner[3]
10 Thomas Roper 1799 1801
11 John Ward 1801 1802
12 David Deas 1802 1803
13 John Drayton Democratic-Republican 1803 1804
14 Thomas Winstanley 1804 1805
15 Charles Cochran 1805 1806
16 John Dawson Jr. 1806 1808[c]
17 Benjamin Boyd 1808[d] 1808
18 William Rouse 1808 1810
19 Thomas H. McCalla 1810 1812
20 Thomas Bennett Jr. Democratic-Republican 1812 1813
21 Thomas Rhett Smith Federalist 1813 1815[e]
22 Elias Horry 1815 1817
23 John Geddes Democratic-Republican 1817 1818[f] Once a Member of the South Carolina State Legislature
Governor of South Carolina from 1818 to 1820
24 Daniel Stevens 1819[g] 1820
(22) Elias Horry 1820 1821
25 James Hamilton Jr. Democratic-Republican 1821 1822[h] U.S. Representative from 1822 to 1829
Governor of South Carolina from 1830 to 1832
(23) John Geddes Democratic-Republican 1823[i] 1824
26 Samuel Prioleau Federalist 1824 1825
27 Joseph Johnson Whig 1825 1827
28 John Gadsden 1827 1829 Once a Member of the South Carolina State Legislature
29 Henry L. Pinckney Democrat (Nullifier) 1829 1830
30 James R. Pringle Democrat (Unionist) 1830 1831
(29) Henry L. Pinckney Democrat (Nullifier) 1831 1833
31 Edward W. North 1833 1836
32 Robert Young Hayne Democrat (Nullifier) 1836 1837 U.S. Senator from 1823 to 1832
Governor of South Carolina from 1832 to 1834
First chief executive officer of Charleston known as Mayor of Charleston
(29) Henry L. Pinckney Democrat (Nullifier) 1837 1840
33 Jacob F. Mintzing Democrat (Unionist) 1840 1842[j] Once a Member of the South Carolina State Legislature
34 John Schnierle Democrat 1842[k] 1846 2nd German-American mayor
Attorney
Major General with the 16th Regiment of South Carolina Militia
35 Thomas Leger Hutchinson Democrat 1846 1850
(34) John Schnierle Democrat 1850 1852
(35) Thomas Leger Hutchinson Democrat 1852 1855
36 William Porcher Miles Democrat 1855 1857
37 Charles Macbeth Democrat 1857 1865[l]
38 Peter Charles Gaillard Democrat 1865 1868
Gaillard was a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army.
He was removed from office by Federal authorities.
39 William Wallace Burns Military appointment 1868 1868
40 Milton Cogswell Military appointment 1868 1868
41 George Washington Clark Military appointment 1868 1868
42 Gilbert Pillsbury Republican 1868 1871 Pillsbury was Charleston's Reconstruction mayor.
He made career with the Freedmen's Bureau.
43 Johann Andreas Wagener Democrat 1871 1873 German-American and Lutheran mayor[4]
Wagener had been a Confederate General. He founded St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1840 and is buried in its Bethany Cemetery.
44 George I. Cunningham Republican 1873 1877
45 William W. Sale Democrat 1877 1879
46 William Ashmead Courtenay Democrat 1879 1887
47 George D. Bryan Democrat 1887 1891
48 John F. Ficken Democrat 1891 1895
49 James Adger Smyth Democrat 1895 1903
50 R. Goodwyn Rhett Democrat 1903 1911
51 John P. Grace Democrat 1911 1915 1st Irish-American and Catholic mayor
The John P. Grace Memorial Bridge was named to honor him.
52 Tristram T. Hyde Democrat 1915 1919
(51) John P. Grace Democrat 1919 1923
53 Thomas Porcher Stoney Democrat 1923 1931
54 Burnet Rhett Maybank Democrat 1931 1938[m] Governor of South Carolina from 1939 to 1941
U.S. Senator from 1941 to 1954
55 Henry Whilden Lockwood Democrat 1938[n] 1944[o]
56 E. Edward Wehman Jr. Democrat 1944[p] 1947
57 William McG. Morrison Democrat 1947 1959
58 J. Palmer Gaillard Jr. Democrat 1959 1975
59 Arthur B. Schirmer Jr. Democrat 1975[q] 1975
60 Joseph P. Riley Jr. Democrat 1975 2016 Riley was the city's longest serving executive and second Irish Catholic mayor.
61 John Tecklenburg Democrat 2016 2023
62 William S. Cogswell Jr. Republican 2023 Present William was the first Republican mayor of Charleston since 1877.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Grimké resigned on September 15, 1788.
  2. ^ Rawlins Lowndes succeeded Grimké on September 29, 1788, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in 1789.
  3. ^ Dawson resigned in July 1808.
  4. ^ Benjamin Boyd succeeded Dawson on July 22, 1808, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in the same year.
  5. ^ Smith resigned in March 1815. Elias Horry succeeded him on March 30 of the same year.
  6. ^ Geddes resigned in December 1818.
  7. ^ Stevens succeeded Geddes on January 11, 1819, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in the same year.
  8. ^ Hamilton resigned in December 1822.
  9. ^ John Geddes succeeded Hamilton on January 6, 1823, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in the same year.
  10. ^ Mintzing died in office on March 15, 1842.
  11. ^ John Schnierle succeeded Mintzing on April 4, 1842, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in the same year.
  12. ^ On February 18, 1865, Mayor Charles MacBeth surrendered Charleston to Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Bennett of the 21st US Colored Troops.
  13. ^ Maybank resigned on December 27, 1938.
  14. ^ Henry Whilden Lockwood succeeded Maybank on December 27, 1938, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in 1939.
  15. ^ Lockwood died in office on June 5, 1944.
  16. ^ E. Edward Wehman Jr. was appointed by the City Council to succeed Lockwood in 1944 and served the remainder of his term, which expired in 1947.
  17. ^ Arthur B. Schirmer Jr. succeeded Gaillard on August 19, 1975, and served the remainder of his term, which expired in the same year.

References

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  1. ^ Charleston's Intendants and Mayors Archived December 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ "2012 Budget Salaries - City of Charleston" (PDF). City of Charleston. January 1, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 15, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  3. ^ DeSaussure and Ford: A Charleston Law Firm of the 1790s, Sally Hadden, Florida State University
  4. ^ "A Brief History, Pastor Cam Keyser, St Matthews Lutheran Church, Charleston, SC, June 5, 2007". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2007.