List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas

Last updated September 29, 2024

The mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas serves as the chief executive of the city government. Little Rock was first incorporated as a town in November 1831 and redefined as a city under a new charter in November 1835. During the American Civil War, Little Rock was captured and occupied by Union forces beginning September 21, 1863, leaving the city without a civilian government until December 1865. Starting in November 1869, the president of the city council presided over council meetings and signed ordinances, performing many of the duties formerly ascribed to the mayor. In accordance with new Constitution of Arkansas and new city charter, the mayor resumed duties previously split between mayor and president of the city council in March 1875. On November 6, 1956, Little Rock voters approved a move to the city manager form of government to take effect in the next year and on November 11, 1957, voters selected the first city board of directors under the city manager form of government. Under this form, the city board selected mayor from among its membership to serve for a two-year term. Beginning in 1994, mayors were elected to a four-year term by citywide election.

Trustees (1825–1832)

From October 1825 through January 1832, Little Rock was governed by an elected board of trustees. Bernard Smith presided over the board through 1828, Dr. Matthew Cunningham presided in 1829, and John McClain presided in 1830 and 1831.

Mayors (from 1836)

Number	Person	Image	Mayor	In office	Notes	Ref.
1	1		Dr. Matthew Cunningham	January 1832 – January 1833	First mayor of the Town of Little Rock. Cunningham’s descendants continue to live in the city into the 21st century. His great-great-great-great grandson serves as pastor of Westover Hills Presbyterian Church.
2	2		Rev. W. W. Stevenson	January 1833 – January 1834
3	3		Elijah A. More	January 1834 – January 1835
4	4		David Fulton	January 1835 – November 1835
5	5		James Pitcher	November 1835 – December 1837	First mayor of the City of Little Rock
6	6		Jesse Brown	January 1838 – January 1841	From April 1839 through November 1839, Alderman Nicholas Peay acted as mayor due to prolonged absence of Mayor Brown.
7	7		Dr. Samuel H. Webb	January 1841 – January 1842
8	8		John Widgery	January 1842 – May 1842
9	9		Samuel G. Trowbridge	May 1842 – January 1843	Elevated to mayor from mayor pro-tempore upon resignation of previous mayor. Resigned upon arrest for running a counterfeit ring.
10	10		Thomas S. Reynolds	January 1843 – September 1843	Elevated to mayor from mayor pro-tempore upon resignation of previous mayor.
11	11		Eli Colby	September 1843 – January 1844	Elevated to mayor from mayor pro-tempore upon resignation of previous mayor.
12	12		William Brown, Sr.	January 1844 – January 1845
13	13		Lambert J. Reardon	January 1845 – January 1847
14	14		Dr. Roderick Lathrop (R.L.) Dodge	January 1847 – January 1848
15	(7)		Dr. Samuel H. Webb (2nd term)	January 1848 – April 1849
16	15		Roswell Beebe	April 1849 – February 1850	Elevated to mayor from mayor pro-tempore upon resignation of previous mayor.
17	16		D. J. Baldwin	February 1850 – January 1851	Elevated to mayor from mayor pro-tempore upon resignation of previous mayor.
18	17		John Elliot Knight	January 1851 – January 1852
19	18		Andre J. Hutt	January 1852 – January 1854
20	19		Thomas D. Merrick	January 1854 – January 1855
21	20		Charles (C.P.) Bertrand	January 1855 – January 1857	Stepson of first Little Rock Mayor, Dr. Matthew Cunningham.
22	21		William E. Ashley	January 1857 – January 1859
23	22		Gordon N. Peay	January 1859 – January 1861	Son of Alderman Nicholas Peay who served as Mayor Pro-Tem during absence of Mayor Brown.
24	(21)		William E. Ashley (2nd term)	January 1861 – September 1863
Little Rock was occupied by the Union Army during the Civil War and controlled by federal forces from September 21, 1863 through December 1865.
25	23		Dr. J. J. McAlmont	January 1866 – January 1867
26	24		J. W. Hopkins	January 1867 – February 1868
27	25		John Wassell	February 1868 – December 1868	Appointed by military to replace elected mayor.
28	26		A. K. Hartman	January 1869 – November 1871	The City Council suspended Hartman in February 1870; a court order overturned that in June 1870. In January 1871, he was again suspended by the Council and J. G. Botsford was declared acting mayor, though Hartman still claimed the title of mayor through the remainder of his term in November 1871.
29	27		Jefferson G. Botsford	January 1871 – November 1871	Appointed acting mayor in January 1871 and served through November 1871. Mayor Hartman was never officially removed from office, so Botsford was never technically mayor. He has been historically listed as a mayor of Little Rock, however.
30	28		Robert F. Catterson	November 1871 – November 1873
31	29		Frederick Kramer	November 1873 – April 1875
32	30		John Gould Fletcher	April 1875 – April 1881	First mayor under new city charter. Father of John Gould Fletcher (Jr.)
33	(29)		Frederick Kramer (2nd term)	April 1881 – April 1887
34	31		William G. Whipple	April 1887 – April 1891	Ran for governor, son-in-law of Mayor R. L. Dodge.
35	32		Henry Lewis (H.L.) Fletcher	April 1891 – April 1893	Brother of Mayor John Gould Fletcher.
36	33		M. G. Hall	April 1893 – April 1895
34		James A. Woodson	April 1895 – May 1900	Due to obligations with his business affairs, resigned in April 1900 to be effective upon election of his successor.
38	35		W. R. Duley	May 1900 – April 1903	Elected in a special election in May 1900. First time a special election had been used to fill mayoral vacancy.
39	36		Warren E. Lenon	April 1903 – April 1908	Due to obligations with his business affairs, resigned at first meeting of city council held in the new City Hall, which he had championed.
40	37		John Herndon Hollis	April 1908 – June 1908	Though technically only mayor pro-tempore selected by City Council to serve until special election for next mayor, he has traditionally been included in lists of mayors of Little Rock. He never gave up his alderman seat on city council and remained on council after special election.
41	(35)		W. R. Duley (2nd term)	June 1908 – April 1911	Chosen in a special election to fill vacancy created by resignation of Mayor Lenon. Due to illness, Mayor Duley took a leave of absence from February 20, 1911 through the remainder of his term. Alderman John S. Odom was selected by the council as Acting Mayor.
42	38		Charles E. Taylor	April 1911 – April 1919
43	39		Ben D. Brickhouse	April 1919 – April 1925
44	40		Charles E. Moyer	April 1925 – April 1929
45	41		Pat L. Robinson	April 1929 – April 1931
46	42		Horace A. Knowlton	April 1931 – April 1935
47	43		Richard E. (R.E.) Overman	April 1935 – April 1939
48	42		John Vines (J.V.) Satterfield, Jr.	April 1939 – April 1941	Due to illness, Mayor Satterfield took a leave of absence from January 1 through March 31, 1941. Alderman E. W. Gibb was selected by Council as Acting Mayor.
49	(40)		Charles E. Moyer (2nd term)	April 1941 – April 1945
50	45		Dan T. Sprick	April 1945 – April 1947
51	46		Sam M. Wassell	April 1947 – December 1951	Starting date for mayoral terms moved from April to January. Grandson of Little Rock Mayor John Wassell.
52	47		Pratt C. Remmel	January 1952 – December 1955	First Republican elected to the post since 1891. Mayor Remmel took a leave of absence to run for Governor from August 31 through December 13, 1954. Alderman Fred W. Parris was chosen by city council to serve as acting mayor.
53	48		Woodrow Wilson Mann	January 1956 – November 1957	Last mayor under the mayor–council form of government.
54	49		Werner C. Knoop	November 1957 – December 1962	First mayor under the city manager form of government.
55	50		Byron R. Morse	January 1963 – December 1964
56	51		Harold "Sonney" Henson, Jr.	January 1965 – December 1966
57	52		Martin Borchert	January 1967 – December 1968
58	53		Haco Boyd	January 1969 – December 1970
59	54		George Wimberly	January 1971 – December 1972
60	55		W. H. Walters	January 1973 – December 1974
61	(54)		George Wimberly (2nd term)	January 1975 – December 1976
62	56		Donald L. Mehlburger	January 1977 – December 1978
63	57		A. M. "Sandy" Keith	January 1979 – June 1979	Resigned as mayor but remained on the City Board of Directors.
64	58		Webster Hubbell	June 1979 – July 1981	Resigned as mayor but remained on the City Board of Directors.
65	59		Charles E. Bussey	November 1981 – December 1982	From July – November 1981, served as Acting Mayor. First African American mayor of Little Rock.
66	60		J. W. "Buddy" Benafield	January 1983 – December 1984	Previously had served as Mayor of England, Arkansas, in the 1970s.
67	61		Thomas A. Prince	January 1985 – December 1986
68	62		Lottie Shackelford	January 1987 – December 1988	First female mayor of Little Rock.^[1] Is also the second African American mayor of Little Rock.^[1]
69	63		Floyd G. "Buddy" Villines	January 1989 – December 1990
70	64		Sharon Priest	January 1991 – December 1992	Served as Arkansas Secretary of State from 1995 to 2003.
71	65		Dalton J. "Jim" Dailey Jr.	January 1993 – December 2006	First served as mayor for two years under original city manager structure, then elected to four-year terms by a citywide election in 1994, 1998, and 2002 under the new hybrid city administrator structure. Longest-serving mayor of Little Rock (14 years).
72	66		Mark Stodola	January 2007 – December 2018		^[2]
73	67		Frank Scott, Jr.	January 2019 –	Incumbent mayor. Little Rock's first directly elected black mayor	^[3]

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References

1 2 Kirk, John (October 2, 2018). "Black Mayors: Lottie Shackleford". University of Arkansas-Little Rock Radio. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
↑ Brock, Roby (April 15, 2019). "Former Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola joins Barber Law Firm". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
↑ Hammersly, Lisa (November 9, 2022). "Frank Scott Jr. wins second term as Little Rock's mayor". Arkansas Advocate . Retrieved November 17, 2023.

City of Little Rock City Manager: Mayors of Little Rock

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[blackandfemale-1] 1 2 Kirk, John (October 2, 2018). "Black Mayors: Lottie Shackleford". University of Arkansas-Little Rock Radio. Retrieved May 7, 2021.

[2] Brock, Roby (April 15, 2019). "Former Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola joins Barber Law Firm". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved November 17, 2023.

[3] Hammersly, Lisa (November 9, 2022). "Frank Scott Jr. wins second term as Little Rock's mayor". Arkansas Advocate . Retrieved November 17, 2023.

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List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas

Contents

Trustees (1825–1832)

Mayors (from 1836)

See also

Related Research Articles

References