List of mayors of Wilmington, Delaware

The mayor of Wilmington is the chief executive of the government of Wilmington, Delaware, as stipulated by the charter. The current mayor of Wilmington is John Carney.

City of Wilmington

First mayor Richard H. Bayard

20th mayor William G. Whiteley

Mayors of Wilmington, Delaware

Rank	Image	Mayor	Start	End	Party	Note
1		Richard Bayard [1]	1832	1834	Whig	Wilmington incorporated in 1832.
2		Nicholas Williamson	1834	1843	Whig
3		David C. Wilson	1843	1845	Whig
4		Alexander Porter	1845	1848	Whig
5		William Huffington	1848	1850	Democratic
6		Joshua Driver	1850	1851
7		Columbus Evans	1851	1852	Whig	Editor of the Delaware Republican.
8		William Hemphill Jones	1852	1853		First mayor elected by popular vote.
9		John Alderdice	1853	1854		Publisher of The Journal .
10		Heyward, James F.	1854	1855
11		William Wiggins	1855	1856
12		William Huffington	1856	1857	Democratic	Non-continuous terms.
13		George Sparks	1857	1858
14		Thomas Young	1858	1860
15		Vincent Glipin	1860	1863
16		John Turner	1863	1865
17		Joshua Maris	1865	1867
18		Joshua Valentine	1867	1872
19		Joshua Simms	1872	1875	Democratic
20		William G. Whiteley	1875	1878	Democratic
21		John Allmond	1878	1882
22		John Wales	1882	1885		Son of Senator John Wales.
23		Calvin Rhoads	1885	1891	Democratic	Choir director
		Sandsbury Wiley	1891	1893	Republican	Term changed to two years, Saturday election in June.
		E. G. Shortridge	1893	1894	Republican
		Charles Jefferies	1895	?	Democratic
		John Fahey	1899	?	Democratic
		George Fisher	1903	1903
		Charles Bird	1903	?	Democratic
		Horace Wilson	1905	1907	Republican
		Harrison Howell	1911	1915	Republican
		John Lawson	1919	?
		LeRoy Harvey	1921	1923?		Founded Wilmington Music School.
		William Taylor	?	1925	Republican	Lost at Sea
		George Forrest	1923	1931		First intern at Delaware Hospital.
		Frank Sparks	1931	1933	Republican
		William Speer	1933	1935	Democratic
		Walter Bacon	1935	1940	Republican	Resigned when elected governor.
		Albert James	1941	1944	Republican	Filled term of Gov. Bacon.
		Thomas Herlihy	1945	1946	Republican	Resigned when appointed Chief Judge of Municipal Court.
		Joseph Wilson	1947	1949	Republican
		James Hearn	1949	1953	Republican
		August Walz	1954	1955	Republican
47		Eugene Lammot	1957	1960	Democratic	Resigned when elected Lt. Gov. Election Tues. in Nov.
48		John Babiarz	1961	1969	Democratic	1968 Occupation
49		Harry Haskell [2]	1969	1973	Republican
50		Thomas Maloney	1973	1977	Democratic
51		William McLaughlin	1977	1984	Democratic
52		Daniel Frawley	1985	1993	Democratic	Stadium named after.
53		James Sills [3]	1993	2001	Democratic	First African American Mayor
54		James Baker	2001	2013	Democratic	First 3-Term Mayor with 4-year terms
55		Dennis Williams	2013	2017	Democratic	Served in the Delaware House of Representatives
56		Mike Purzycki [4]	2017	2025	Democratic	Spearheaded successful Riverfront redevelopment
57		John Carney [5]	2025	Incumbent	Democratic	First Mayor to previously serve as State Governor

Borough of Wilmington

Chief Burgesses of Wilmington, Delaware

Rank	Chief Burgess	Year	Note
1	Shipley, William	1739	William Penn granted charter on November 16, 1739.
2	Way, Joseph	1742
3	Shipley, William	1743	2nd non-consecutive term.
4	Hannum, Robert	1744
5	Peters, Joseph	1745
6	Stapler, John	1748	Stapler Park named after
7	Few, James	1750
8	Littler, Joshua	1751
9	Stapler, John	1752	2nd non-consecutive term.
10	Littler, Joshua	1753	2nd non-consecutive term.
11	Littler, Joshua	1754	3rd term.
12	Dawes, Edward	1755
13	Stapler, John	1756	3rd non-consecutive term.
14	Gilpin, Thomas	1757
15	Stapler, John	1758	4th non-consecutive term.
16	McKinly, John	1759
17	Dawes, Edward	1762
18	Lea, John	1764	Lea Blvd. named after.
19	Way, Joseph	1765
20	McKinly, John	1767
21	Bennet, Joseph	1770	Bennet Street named after.
22	McKinly, John	1771
23	Robinson, Nicholas	1774
24	McKinly, John	1775
25	Bennett, Joseph	1777
26	Stidham, Joseph	1778
27	Broom, Jacob	1783	Broom Street named after.
28	Kean, Thomas	1784
29	Broom, Jacob	1785
30	Gibbson, James	1786
31	Way, Thomas	1788
32	Shallcross, Joseph	1790	Shallcross Avenue named after.
33	Bush, David	1792
34	Broom, Jacob	1794
35	Brynberg, Peter	1796
36	Warner, Joseph	1798
37	Tilton, Hehemiah	1799
38	Brobson, James	1801
39	Hendrickson, Isaac	1802
40	Brobson, James	1803
41	Lea, James	1806
42	Dixon, Isaac	1807
43	Brobson, James	1808

See also

• Timeline of Wilmington, Delaware
• List of governors of Delaware
• List of lieutenant governors of Delaware
• List of United States senators from Delaware
• List of United States representatives from Delaware

References

1. Noonan, Kevin (March 21, 2017). "Your Ultimate Guide to First State National Historical Park". Delaware Today . Retrieved March 11, 2024.
2. Affo, Marina (January 17, 2020). "Former Wilmington mayor and congressmen Hal Haskell dies at 98". The News Journal . Retrieved March 11, 2024.
3. "Wilmington honors former mayor with bridge dedication". Delaware Public Media . July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
4. Read, Zoë (January 4, 2017). "Mike Purzycki sworn in as mayor of Wilmington". Philadelphia, PA: WHYY-TV . Retrieved March 11, 2024.
5. Petrowich, Sarah (January 8, 2025). "Former Gov. John Carney sworn in as Wilmington mayor alongside new members of City Council". Dover, DE: WDDE . Retrieved January 8, 2025.

External links

• Office of the Mayor