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Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky
Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky
	Incumbent; Craig Greenberg; since January 2, 2023
Formation	1828
First holder	John Bucklin
Website	Office of the Mayor

The history of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, as a city is considered to have started on February 13, 1828, the date of the first city charter. From the time of its first organization as a village, on February 7, 1781, until its incorporation as a city, it was governed by a board of trustees. At the time when its growth and commercial importance demanded the change of its government, it was chartered by the state legislature into a city of five wards and placed under the government of a mayor and city council, the latter being composed of ten members, two from each ward.

History of the office

The first election under the Act of Incorporation took place in March 1828. All free white males who had lived in the city for at least six months prior to the election could vote, although mayors were not elected directly initially. The two top vote-getters were referred to the governor, who selected the mayor from the two, with senate approval. The early mayor was relatively weak, acting mostly as a Justice of the Peace, serving a one-year term, and lacking a vote on the City Council except to break ties.

A change to the charter in 1838 allowed for direct election of a mayor, extended the term to three years, and prevented incumbents from running for re-election. The term was reduced to two years from 1851 to 1870, then returned to three, and was finally set at four years by the Kentucky Legislature in 1894. In the early 20th century, corruption and political machines were rampant, causing mayors of both parties to be removed from office by courts. All legislative power was given to the Board of Aldermen in 1929. Mayoral term limits were set at three in 1986.

On January 6, 2003, the city of Louisville and Jefferson County governments merged to form the government of Louisville Metro, and the office of Mayor of Louisville Metro was created.

Incorporated city

Mayor	Term began	Term ended	Political party
John Bucklin	1828	1833
John Joyes	1834	1836
W. A. Cocke	1836	1836	Whig
Frederick A. Kaye	1837	1840	Whig
David L. Beatty	1841	1843	Democratic
Frederick A. Kaye	1844	1846	Whig
William R. Vance	1847	1850	Whig
John M. Delph	1850	1852	Whig
James Stephens Speed	1853	1854	Whig
John Barbee	1855	1856	Know Nothing
William S. Pilcher	1857	August 1858^[1]	Know Nothing
Thomas W. Riley	August 1858	April 1859^[2]	Whig
Thomas H. Crawford	April 1859	1860	Unionist
John M. Delph	1861	1862	Unionist
William Kaye	1863	1865	Democratic
Philip Tomppert	1865	December 28, 1865^[3]	Democratic
James S. Lithgow	January 2, 1866	February 14, 1867^[4]	Democratic
Philip Tomppert	February 14, 1867	1868	Democratic
Joseph H. Bunce	1869	March 1870	Democratic
John G. Baxter	1870	1872	Democratic
Charles D. Jacob	1873	1878	Democratic
John G. Baxter	1879	1881	Democratic
Charles D. Jacob	1882	1884	Democratic
P. Booker Reed	1885	1887	Democratic
Charles D. Jacob	1888	1890	Democratic
William L. Lyons	May 12, 1890^[5]	August 1890	Democratic
Henry S. Tyler	1891	January 14, 1896^[6]	Democratic
Robert Emmet King	January 14, 1896	January 31, 1896 (pro tem)	Republican
George Davidson Todd	January 31, 1896	December 1897	Republican
Charles P. Weaver	December 1897	December 1901	Democratic
Charles F. Grainger	December 1901	December 1905	Democratic
Paul C. Barth	December 1905	July 1907^[7]	Democratic
Robert Worth Bingham	July 1907	December 1907^[8]	Democratic
James F. Grinstead	December 1907	December 1909	Republican
William O. Head	December 1909	December 1913	Democratic
John H. Buschemeyer	December 1913	December 1917	Democratic
George Weissinger Smith	December 1917	December 1921	Republican
Huston Quin	December 1921	December 1925	Republican
Arthur A. Will	December 1925	June 1927^[9]	Republican
Joseph T. O'Neal	June 1927	December 1927	Democratic
William B. Harrison	December 1927	December 1933	Republican
Neville Miller	December 1933	December 1937	Democratic
Joseph D. Scholtz	December 1937	December 1941	Democratic
Wilson W. Wyatt	December 1941	December 1945	Democratic
E. Leland Taylor	December 1945	February 16, 1948^[10]	Democratic
Charles R. Farnsley	February 16, 1948	December 1953	Democratic
Andrew Broaddus	December 1953	December 1957	Democratic
Bruce Hoblitzell	December 1957	December 1961	Democratic
William Cowger	December 1961	December 1965	Republican
Kenneth A. Schmied	December 1965	December 1969	Republican
Frank W. Burke	December 1969	December 1, 1973	Democratic
Harvey I. Sloane	December 1, 1973	December 1, 1977	Democratic
William B. Stansbury	December 1, 1977	January 1, 1982	Democratic
Harvey I. Sloane	January 1, 1982	January 1, 1986	Democratic
Jerry Abramson	January 1, 1986	January 1, 1999	Democratic
David L. Armstrong	January 1, 1999	January 5, 2003	Democratic

Louisville Metro

Mayor	Term began	Term ended	Political party
Jerry Abramson	January 6, 2003	January 2, 2011	Democratic
Greg Fischer	January 3, 2011	January 1, 2023	Democratic
Craig Greenberg	January 2, 2023	Present	Democratic

Notes

^ Died in office in August 1858.
^ Served as mayor Served as mayor pro tempore. Left office in April 1859.
^ Impeached by Board of Aldermen for failure to approve an infrastructure bill tainted by bribery
^ Resigned on February 14, 1867, after the Kentucky Court of Appeals restored Tomppert.
^ Served as mayor pro tempore.
^ Left office on January 14, 1896.
^ Removed from office in June 1907 as election was found to be fraudulent.
^ Appointed interim mayor
^ Removed from office in June 1927 as election was found to be fraudulent.
^ Died in office on February 16, 1948.

References

Memorial History of Louisville, 1896, Volume 1, page 77 by J. Stoddard Johnson.
"UofL Libraries:Mayors of Louisville". Archived from the original on April 27, 2007.