Meet Iowa City’s Mayors – 1853 To Today.

In March 1985, Iowa City historian Irving Weber published three informative articles that covered the history of Iowa City’s mayors from 1853 to 1985. Now, forty years later, we are proud to publish an updated 7-page overview of Iowa City’s Mayors – 1853 to 2025.

As discussed elsewhere on our website, the City of Iowa City was founded on May 4, 1839. And, unlike most other U.S. cities, which were formed through private funding and investments, lowa City was uniquely created by the United States government, with all of the land being donated to the Territory of Iowa by the U.S. government. Thus, over our first fourteen years of existence, Iowa City had no local governmental system in place. There was no mayor to appeal to; no council to petition; no police to preserve order; and no municipal services for those who lived here.

Interestingly, the good citizens of Iowa City must have been satisfied with the arrangement, as we resisted five attempts by the Iowa Legislature to have our city incorporated. Some believe the reason for the hesitancy was the fact that in the unincorporated status, no one paid any taxes!

According to historian, Benjamin F. Shambaugh (see below), there was an early attempt to put a system of city government in place, but it failed miserably. But, finally, after yet another strong effort to sell the positives of incorporation, on January 24, 1853 – fourteen years after our founding – Iowa City was incorporated, with the installation of our first mayor and city council on Wednesday, April 6, 1853.

***Iowa historian – Benjamin F. Shambaugh offers the most detailed overview of Iowa City’s 1853 incorporation, and the installation of our first mayor and City Council.***

For a great majority of the years of being incorporated (1853-1950), Iowa City’s mayor was aligned with a political party and was duly elected directly by the people for a one-year term in leading the City Council. But in 1950, the “council/manager” form of government was adopted by voters, which meant that, now, local residents elect non-partisan representatives to a seven-member City Council, who in turn chooses both a city manager and a mayor from amongst their own. In 1962, another change was brought forth, with the Council deciding to double the length of the mayor’s term, increasing it from one to two years.

At the time of this writing (2025), Iowa City – over our 172-year-history as an incorporated city – has had 65 different mayors serving 73 separate terms. Over the next six pages, we unpack some of the many stories behind these key men and women who have bravely led the way in city government. Interestingly, the deeper we got into this project, the more we realized that there has not been too many resources gathered on this subject. So, as you’ll notice at the bottom of each page, we’ve done a lot of research on each mayor and hopefully ended up with a 6-page resource guide that will be helpful to those who would like to find out more. Our research work started with three key pieces: one that dates back to 1882, another that was placed on line around 2009, and a third that was written in March 1985. Below, we give you a taste for each of these three resources, plus links you can use yourself…

1) Here’s a listing of mayors from 1853-1882 taken from the iconic 1882 volume: *History of Johnson County*. List of Mayors 1853-1882 – History of Johnson County, 1882, p 676-679

**2) A collection of info gathered on city mayors found in the records of the Iowa City Library, which covers most of our mayors and offers photographs of many of them through 2009**. *Iowa City Mayors – Iowa City Government-Collection Tree*, Iowa City Public Library Digital History Project

**3) Irving Weber’s three Press-Citizen articles from March 1985, which at that time, covered 56 different mayors from 1853-1985 (see Vol III below).** *The Mayors of Iowa City – Part III*, Irving Weber, Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 1985, p 4

Here’s an overview of all 65 mayors and the 73 different terms served from 1853 through 2025…

Records indicate that there have been three city government buildings since Iowa City was incorporated in 1853. The William Bostick House (above right-top) at 115 North Gilbert Street was built in 1851 and it appears that city business took place in this building until 1882, when City Hall #1 (above right-bottom) opened on the corner of Washington and Linn Streets. Eighty years later, in 1962, City Hall #2 (above left) opened at 410 E. Washington Street and remains as our city government’s home today.

Our First Mayor – Mayor #1 – Jacob P. DeForest (1853-1854) – sworn in on April 6, 1853.

Our Youngest Mayor – Mayor #2 – Joseph E. Fales (1854-1855) – age 25.

Our Oldest Mayor – Mayor #42 – Wilbur J. Teeters – When elected to his first two-year term (1943-1945), Teeters was 77, and at the end of his second two-year term (1945-1947), he was 81.

Our Mayor With The Shortest Time Of Service – Mayor #26 – David Smith (D.S.) Barber – On February 27, 1889, The Iowa State Press announces that the City Council had appointed Barber as the temporary mayor – filling in for the late Mayor J.J. Holmes. By March 20, 1889, Barber had been replaced with the newly-elected Charles M. Reno: Total – less than one month!

Our Mayor With The Longest Time Of Service – Mayor #30, #34 – Frank K. Stebbins – Stebbins served as Iowa City mayor for a record ten years, divided into two separate terms: (1897-1905 and 1917-1919).

Our First Multi-Term Mayor – Mayor #12 – George W. (G.W.) McCleary – McCleary served for five consecutive years: (1864-1869).

Our First Multi-Term Mayor With Non-Consecutive Terms – Mayor #16, #19 – Jacob Ricord – Ricard served a total of four years with two non-consecutive terms: (1875-1876 and 1878-1879).

Our Mayor With The Most Non-Consecutive Terms – Mayor #23, #27, #29 – Charles Morgan (C.M.) Reno, (2) – Reno served for eight total years, spread out over three separate terms: (1884-1886, 1889-1893, and 1895-1897).

Our Last Mayor Elected By Citizens – Mayor #43 – Preston Koser – Koser was elected in March 1947, serving four one-year terms (1947-1951), and was the last mayor to be elected directly by the citizens of the community.

Our First Mayor Chosen By City Council – Mayor #44 – William J. “Bill” Holland – Holland (1951-1954) became the first mayor to be elected under the new council-manager system, where the mayor is no longer chosen by the citizens, but “elected” by the City Council.

Our Mayor With The Longest Run On City Council – Mayor #69 – Ross Wilburn – Wilburn was elected to the City Council in 2006 and held his seat there until resigning to run for Iowa Governor in 2018: a record of 12 consecutive years! He was elected mayor during his first term on the Council (2006-2008).

Our Last One-Year-Term Mayor – Mayor #49 – Thelma B. Lewis – Lewis (1961-1962) was the last Iowa City mayor that was given a straight one-year term before needing to be re-elected. Beginning with Dorr Hudson (1962), mayors were given a two-year term with an option, of course, of being re-elected if they choose to be re-nominated by the City Council.

Our First Mayor To Die In Office – Mayor #22, #25 – John Jacob Holmes – Holmes served for two years (1882-1884), and after a three year hiatus, was re-elected for two more years (1887-1889). He was first mayor to die in office, at age 55, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Our First Woman Mayor – Mayor #36 – Emma J. Harvat – Upon the sudden resignation of Mayor Ingalls Swisher in June 1922, 51-year-old Council member Harvat was appointed mayor. The following year (1923), Harvat became the first woman to be elected mayor of any U.S. city with a population larger than 10,000 residents! You can read more here.

Our Women Mayors – Mayor #36 – Emma J. Harvat (1922-1925), Mayor #49 – Thelma B. Lewis (1961-1962), Mayor #58, #61 – Mary C. Neuhauser (1976-1978), (1982-1984), Mayor #66 – Susan Horowitz (1994-1996), Mayor #67 – Naomi S. Novick (1996-1998), Mayor #70 – Regenia Bailey (2008-2010).

Our Last Mayor To Work In Old City Hall – Mayor #49 – Thelma B. Lewis – lowa City’s second woman mayor (1961-1962) was the last city leader to serve in the 1881 City Hall, located on the northwest corner of Washington and Linn Streets.

Our First Mayor To Work In New City Hall – Mayor #50 – Dorvan “Dorr” H. Hudson – Dorr took office as mayor in January 1962, and was the first mayor to serve in the new Iowa City Civic Center. Sadly, Dorr also holds a record for being the second mayor to die in office, suffering from an aneurysm after only three months in office.

Our First Mayor Of Color – Mayor #69 – Ross Wilburn – Serving from 2006 to 2008, Wilburn was the first person of color – an African-American – to be elected mayor of Iowa City.

Our Mayors Of Color – Mayor #69 – Ross Wilburn (2006-2008), Mayor #73 – Bruce A. Teague (2020-present).

Our Mayors With Family Connections #1 – Mayor #5 – Morgan Reno, Sr. (1857-1858) and Mayor #23, #27, #29 – Charles Morgan (C.M.) Reno (1884-1886, 1889-1893, and 1895-1897) – Father and Son.

Our Mayors With Family Connections #2 – Mayor #44 -William J. “Bill” Holland (1951-1954) and Mayor #56 – C.L. “Tim” Brandt (1972-1974) – Father-in-law and Son-in-law. Tim’s wife, Pat Brandt – had both her father and her husband serve as mayor!

Our Mayors With Streets Named After Them – DeForest Avenue – Mayor #1 – Jacob P. DeForest (1853-1854), Reno Street – Mayor #5 – Morgan Reno, Sr. (1857-1858) and Mayor #23, #27, #29 – Charles Morgan (C.M.) Reno (1884-1886, 1889-1893, and 1895-1897), Teeters Court – Mayor #42 – Wilber J. Teeters (1943-1947)

Professions Of Our Mayors – Obviously, serving as mayor is not life-time appointment. Interestingly, over the years, our mayors have had a variety of “day jobs” that they worked at before/during and after their service as mayor…

Our First Mayor With University Connections – Mayor #42 – Wilber J. Teeters (1943-1947) – Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Teeters was the first person with a SUI connection to be named mayor.

Other Mayors With Direct Connections With University of Iowa – Mayor #70 – Regenia Bailey (2008-2010), Mayor #57 – Edgar R. Czarnecki (1974-1976), Mayor #52 – Fred H. Doderer (1962-1964), Mayor #55 – Loren L. Hickerson (1968-1972), Mayor #49 – Thelma B. Lewis (1961-1962), Mayor #46 – Louis Loria (1958-1959), Mayor #47 – Philip F. Morgan (1959-1960), Mayor #58, #61 – Mary C. Neuhauser (1976-1978), Mayor #72 – James (Jim) A. Throgmorton (2016-2020)