List of mayors of Nashville, Tennessee

Mayor of Nashville
Seal of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
since September 25, 2023
Term length4 years
Inaugural holderBeverly Briley
Formation1963
SuccessionVice mayor of Nashville
Salary$180,000
WebsiteOfficial website

The Mayor of Nashville is the chief executive of the government of Nashville, Tennessee. The current mayor is Freddie O'Connell. Each mayor serves a term of four years, with a limit of two consecutive terms, unless this is interrupted by a legal mechanism, such as a recall election.

Mayors of the City of Nashville

The following is a list of the mayors of Nashville before it had a consolidated metropolitan government:

Pre-Civil War

Mayor Term
Joseph Coleman 1806–1809
Benjamin J. Bradford 1809–1811
William Tait 1811–1814
Joseph Thorpe Elliston 1814–1817
Stephen Cantrell, Jr. 1817–1817
Felix Robertson 1818–1819
Thomas Crutcher 1819–1820
James Condon 1820–1821
John Patton Erwin 1821–1822
Robert Brownlee Currey 1822–1824
Randal McGavock 1824–1825
Wilkins F. Tannehill 1825–1827
Felix Robertson 1827–1829
William Armstrong 1829–1833
John Meredith Bass 1833–1834
John Patton Erwin 1834–1835
William Nichol 1835–1837
Henry Hollingsworth 1837–1839
Charles Clay Trabue 1839–1841
Samuel Van Dyke Stout 1841–1842
Thomas B. Coleman 1842–1843
Powhatan W. Maxey 1843–1845
John Hugh Smith 1845–1846
John A. Goodlett 1846–1847
Alexander Allison 1847–1849
John McCormick Lea 1849–1850
John Hugh Smith 1850–1853
Williamson Hartley Horn 1853–1854
William Booker Shapard 1854–1854
Robert Bell Castleman 1854–1856
Andrew Anderson 1856–1857
John A. McEwen 1857–1858
Randal William McGavock 1858–1859
Samuel N. Hollingsworth 1859–1860

Civil War and Reconstruction

Mayor Term
Richard Boone Cheatham 1860–1862
John Hugh Smith 1862–1865
William Matt Brown 1865–1867
Augustus E. Alden 1867–1869
John Meredith Bass 1869–1869
Kindred Jenkins Morris 1869–1871
Thomas A. Kercheval 1871–1874
Morton Boyte Howell 1874–1875

Post-Reconstruction

Mayor Term
Thomas A. Kercheval 1875–1883
Claiborne Hooper Phillips 1883–1886
Thomas A. Kercheval 1886–1888
Charles P. McCarver 1888–1890
William Litterer 1890–1891
George Blackmore Guild 1891–1895
William Marshall McCarthey 1895–1897
Richard Houston Dudley 1897–1900
James Marshall Head 1900–1904
Albert Smiley Williams 1904–1906
Thomas Owen Morris 1906–1908
James Stephens Brown 1908–1909
Hilary Ewing Howse 1909–1915
Robert Ewing 1915–1917
William Gupton 1917–1921
Felix Zollicoffer Wilson 1921–1922
William Percy Sharpe 1922–1924
Hilary Ewing Howse 1924–1938
Thomas L. Cummings, Sr. 1938–1951
Ben West 1951–1963

Mayors of Metropolitan Nashville

The following is a list of the mayors of Nashville after the consolidation of the municipal government with the government of Davidson County:

Image Mayor Term
Beverly Briley 1963–1975
Richard Fulton 1975–1987
Bill Boner 1987–1991
Phil Bredesen 1991–1999
Bill Purcell 1999–2007
Karl Dean 2007–2015
Megan Barry 2015–2018
David Briley 2018–2019
John Cooper 2019–2023
Freddie O'Connell 2023–present

See also

Bibliography

  • Mayer N. Zald; Thomas A. Anderson (1968). "Secular Trends and Historical Contingencies in the Recruitment of Mayors: Nashville as Compared to New Haven and Chicago". Urban Affairs Review. 3. doi:10.1177/107808746800300403. S2CID 154143740.