City of Knoxville - Mayors of Knoxville

CITY OF KNOXVILLE MAYORS
Portraits of most of the previous Mayors of Knoxville have been gathered together for viewing enjoyment in the atrium on the 5th floor of the City County Building. The city's first Mayor Thomas Emmerson is available on display in the Mayor's Office on the 6th floor Suite 691.
Numbers in parenthesis are (year of birth - year of death)
2004-Current Bill Haslam (1958- ---- ) Served as president and director of Pilot Corp. Former chief executive officer of SAKS Direct, the e-commerce and catalogue division of Saks Fifth Avenue. Owner of the Tennessee Smokies East Tennessee AA Baseball Team and serves on the board of directors for Harold's Department Stores.
1988-2003 Victor Ashe (1945- ---- ) State Representative 1968-1974, State Senator 1975-1984, Mayor 1988-2003, U.S. Ambassador to Poland 2004-present
1984-1987 Kyle C. Testerman (1935- ---- ) Lawyer and businessman; elected member of City Council; born in Knoxville; also served as Mayor 1972-1975
1976-1983 Randall Tyree (1940- ---- ) Lawyer; born in Carthage; Mayor during the 1982 World's Fair
1972-1975 Kyle C. Testerman (1935- ---- ) Lawyer and businessman; elected member of City Council; born in Knoxville; also served as Mayor 1984-1987
1965-1971 Leonard R. Rogers (1912-1996) Executive Director of Tennessee Valley Fair; born in Shelby County
1964 Robert L. Crossley (1928-2006 ) Lawyer, partner in the law firm of Baker, Worthington, Crossley, Stansberry & Woolf; born in Cleveland, Ohio; Acting Mayor for Dec. 1964
1959-1964 John J. Duncan (1919-1988) Lawyer; U.S. Representative; born in Scott County; resigned from office Dec. 1, 1964 when elected to Congress
1959 Cas Walker (1903-1998) Grocery store owner; born in Sevier County; served as Acting Mayor April 1959; also served as Mayor in 1946
1956-1959 Jack W. Dance (1897-1959) County official; Republican party leader; born in Knoxville; died in office Mar. 12, 1959
1952-1955 George R. Dempster (1887-1964) Industrialist; inventor (Dempster Dumpster); City Manager; Democratic party leader; humanitarian; born in Knoxville
1948-1951 James W. Elmore, Jr. (1906-1983) Businessman; born in Knoxville; son of Mayor James W. Elmore
1946-1947 Edward L. Chavannes (1907-1990) Lumber business owner; born in Knoxville
1946 Cas Walker (1903-1998) Grocery store owner; born in Sevier County; Recalled Dec. 3, 1946; also served as Acting Mayor 1959
1944-1945 E. E. Patton (1874-1961) Educator and legislator; born in Carter County
1942-1943 Fred R. Stair (1892-1972) Lumber company executive; City School Board member for 12 years; founder of Stair Technical School (now Fulton High School); born in Knoxville
1940-1941 Fred L. Allen (1866-1957) Standard Oil businessman; born in Alabama
1938-1939 Walter W. Mynatt (1898-1979) Public Service official; born in Knoxville
1936-1937 James W. Elmore (1876-1938) Businessman; born in Knoxville
1932-1935 John T. O'Connor (1881-1968) Machinist; business leader; City Welfare Director; born in Knoxville
1930-1931 James A. Trent (1885-1974) Printing business owner; born in Knox County
1928-1929 James A. Fowler (1863-1955) Lawyer; U.S. Assistant Attorney General; born in Knox County
1924-1927 Ben A. Morton (1875-1952) Grocery jobber; capitalist; civic leader; born in Blount County
1920-1923 E. W. Neal (1867-1941) Businessman; born in Ohio
1916-1919 J. E. McMillan (1868-1926) Born in Knoxville
1912 S. E. Hill (1871-1940) Born in Union County, Tennessee; educator and businessman; Acting Mayor 1912
1910-1915 Samuel G. Heiskell (1858-1923) Lawyer, historian, State Representative; born in Monroe County; also served as Mayor 1896-97, 1900-01, and 1906-07
1908-1909 Capt. John M. Brooks (1840-1921) One of the most highly esteemed citizens of Knoxville; veteran of the Confederate Army; Insurance business; elected mayor in 1908 and gave two years of excellent service to the city; buried at Old Gray Cemetery
1906-1907 Samuel G. Heiskell (1858-1923) Lawyer, historian, State Representative; born in Monroe County; also served as Mayor 1896-97, 1900-01, and 1910-15
1904-1905 William H. Gass ( unknown ) Cashier of Knoxville Banking Company
1904 John Paul Murphy (1857-1925) Lawyer, state legis lator; born in Bulls Gap; served on the Knoxville Board of Aldermen for 26 years; served as Acting mayor in 1904
1902-1903 Joseph T. McTeer (1840-1904) Established the business of McTeer, Payne, Burger & Hood in 1876
1900-1901 Samuel G. Heiskell (1858-1923) Lawyer, historian, State Representative; born in Monroe County; also served as Mayor 1896-97, 1906-07, and 1910-15
1898 -1899 William Rule (1839-1928) 1873 Civil War officer, postmaster, editor of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune; born in Knox County; also served as Mayor 1873
1896-1897 Samuel G. Heiskell (1858-1923) Lawyer, historian, State Representative; born in Monroe County; also served as Mayor 1900-01, 1906-07, and 1910-15
1892-1895 M. E. Thompson (unknown -1906) Built the Palace Hotel; livery stable owner; realtor
1890-1891 Peter Kern (1835-1907) Civil War soldier; businessman (Kern's Bread); born near Heidelberg, Germany
1888-1889 Martin J. Condon (1857- unknown ) Wholesale grocery businessman; born in Hawkins County
1885-1887 James C. Luttrell, Jr. (1841-1914) Civil War officer; hardware merchant; born in Knoxville; son of Mayor James Churchwell Luttrell
1883-1884 William C. Fulcher (1850-1926) Building contractor; realtor; born near Abingdon, VA
1882 Reuben S. Payne (1844-1896) Born in Davidson County, TN. Enlisted in the 2nd Tennessee Infantry at the beginning of the war and served until its end; became a hat merchant, first in New York City, then Knoxville; elected president of the East Tennessee National Bank in 1884
1881-1882 Peter Staub (1827-1904) United States Consul to Switzerland; tailor; builder of Staub's Theater; born in Switzerland; also served as Mayor 1874-75
1880 H. Bryan Branner (1851-1938) Textile mills owner; official of Standard Knitting Mills; born in Georgia
1879 Samuel B. Luttrell (1844-1933) Hardware merchant; born in Knoxville; son of Mayor James Luttrell and grandson of Mayor Samuel Bell
1878 Joseph Jaques (1825-1883) Industrialist; bank president; born in England; also served as Mayor 1858
1876 - 1877 Daniel A. Carpenter (1837-1918) Businessman; born in Kentucky
1874-1875 Peter Staub (1827-1904) United States Consul to Switzerland; tailor; builder of Staub's Theater; born in Switzerland; also served as Mayor 1881-82
1873 William Rule (1839-1928) Civil War officer; postmaster; editor of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune; born in Knox County; also served as Mayor 1898-99
1870-1872 John S. Van Gilder (1825-1902) Manufacturer; banker; born in New Jersey
1868-1869 Marcus D. Bearden (1830-1885) Civil War officer; sheriff; mayor; representative; Bearden, in West Knoxville, was named in his honor
1859-1867 James C. Luttrell (1813-1878) State official; postmaster; born in Knox County; his two sons were both mayors; also served as Mayor 1854
1858 A. M. Piper (1820-1873) Merchant; born in Greene County; one of the five mayors in 1858
1858 Charles J. McClung (1826-1908) Merchant, founding partner of Cowan, McClung & Co.; civic leader; never really served as mayor; according to Board of Alderman minutes for 1858, he was elected by the Board on May 6, but declined the office - A.M. Piper, another alderman, was elected mayor May 20 and served the remaining year; one of the five mayors in 1858
1858 James M. White ( unknown ) City Alderman in 1857; served as mayor from January 9 to April 8, 1858 when he resigned; one of the five mayors in 1858
1858 Joseph Jaques (1825-1883) Industrialist and bank president; born in England; one of the five mayors in 1858; also served as Mayor 1878
1858 James H. Cowan (1801-1871) Merchant; born in Knoxville; one of the five mayors in 1858; also served as Mayor 1856
1857 Thomas J. Powell (1821-1900) Merchant; owner of a dry goods store on Gay St.
1857 Samuel A. White (1825-1860) The fourth son of Hugh Lawson White and the grandson of James White, the founder of Knoxville; his full name was Samuel Davies Carrick White
1856 James H. Cowan (1801-1871) Merchant; born in Knoxville; one of the five mayors in 1858; also served as Mayor 1858
1855-1856 Willliam G. Swann (1821-1869) Lawyer; circuit judge; Confederate congressman; Tennessee Attorney General; latter part of June 1855, first train came to Knoxville - Mayor was on hand to greet; along with Joseph Mabry, gave lot for Market Square
1854 James C. Luttrell (1813-1878) State official; postmaster; born in Knox County; his two sons were both mayors; also served as Mayor 1859-67
1852-1853 George M. White (1800-1884) Sheriff, county and circuit court judge and register; born in Knoxville; grandson of this city's founder, James White
1847-1851 Samuel B. Boyd (1806-1855) Lawyer; judge; occupant of Blount Mansion after 1844
1846 Joseph L. King (1810-unknown) One of the organizers of Knoxville and Charleston Railroad Co. in 1852
1844-1845 Samuel Bell (1798-1882) Silversmith; jeweler; born in Washington County, Pennsylvania; at age 14 worked in arms factory making swords for use in War of 1812; made a pair of handsome silver spurs for Gen. Sam Houston who wore them at the battle of San Jacinto; also served as Mayor 1840-41
1843 Matthew M. Gaines (1807-1893) Knoxville merchant; served as alderman in 1840, 1841, 1842; his granddaughter, Mary Gaines, in 1893 laid the first brick in the sand on Gay Street near Main - she was accorded the honor as the granddaughter of oldest living ex-mayor
1842 Gideon M. Hazen (1810-1880) Merchant; businessman; large landholder; builder of "Middlebrook," the house that provided the name for Middlebrook Pike; he established the paper mill on Middlebrook Pike from which Paper Mill Road took its name
1840-1841 Samuel Bell (1798-1882) Silversmith; jeweler; born in Washington County, Pennsylvania; at age 14 worked in arms factory making swords for use in War of 1812; made a pair of handsome silver spurs for Gen. Sam Houston who wore them at the battle of San Jacinto; also served as Mayor 1844-45
1838-1839 W. B. A. Ramsey (1799-1874) Born at Swan Pond (Ramsey House); lawyer; built a steamboat called Knoxville; owned the Knoxville Register; Secretary of State for Tennessee
1837-1838 James King (1787-1838) Born in Montgomery County, Va.; set up medical practice in Knoxville in 1812; was a prosperous merchant; owned two steamboats, bringing groceries from New Orleans for his business at the corner of Gay and Church
1835-1836 William C. Mynatt (1787-1837) Aid-de-camp to General Cocke, War of 1812; hotel keeper, Mynatt's Hotel on the site of the present 1835-36 Knox County courthouse; also served as Mayor 1822-23 and 1827
1835 Frederick S. Heiskell (1786-1882) Published Knoxville Register; journalist; farmer; born in Hagerstown, Maryland
1834-1835 Solomon D. Jacobs (1795-unknown) Merchant; railroad president; mayor; served in state legislature 1839-41
1832-1834 Donald McIntosh (1797-1837) Born in Inverness, Scotland; graduated in medicine at the University of Edinburgh; came to U.S. around 1818; a popular physician in Knoxville; died in the yellow fever epidemic in 1837
1828-1831 Joseph C. Strong (1775-1844) Physician; surgeon; civic leader; born in Bolton, Conn.; was a great economist; his residence was built by the architect, Thomas Hope
1827 William C. Mynatt (1787-1837) Aid-de-camp to General Cocke, War of 1812; hotel keeper, Mynatt's Hotel on the site of the present 1835-36 Knox County courthouse; also served as Mayor 1822-23 and 1835-36
1824-1826 James Park (1770-1853) Born in Ireland; came to U.S. in 1796 and Knoxville in 1798; in the Mercantile business; built one of 1st homes (was at one time the Knoxville Academy of Medicine, Cumberland Ave.) and Andrew Jackson entertained there; also served as Mayor 1818-21
1822-1823 William C. Mynatt (1787-1837) Aid-de-camp to General Cocke, War of 1812; hotel keeper, Mynatt's Hotel on the site of the present 1835-36 Knox County courthouse; also served as Mayor 1827 and 1835-36
1818-1821 James Park (1770-1853) Born in Ireland; came to U.S. in 1796 and Knoxville in 1798, in the Mercantile business; built one of 1st homes (was at one time the Knoxville Academy of Medicine, Cumberland Ave.) and Andrew Jackson entertained there; also served as Mayor 1824-26
1816-1817 Thomas Emmerson (1772-1837) First mayor of Knoxville; judge, editor; born at Lawrenceville, Brunswick County, VA.
Knoxville was incorporated, Oct. 27, 1815, by act of the state legislature
Some above photos of paintings may show light glare distortions.