List of mayors and city managers of Lowell, Massachusetts facts for kids

Lowell, Massachusetts, is a city with a rich history, and its leaders have played a big part in shaping it. This article tells you about the people who have served as the city's mayors and city managers.

From 1836 until 1943, the mayor of Lowell was the main leader of the city. They were in charge of how the city was run. But in 1943, Lowell changed its government system to something called a "Plan E" form. This meant that starting January 1, 1944, a professional city manager took over the daily running of the city. The mayor's job still exists, but it became more of a ceremonial role, like a representative for the city, rather than the main decision-maker.

Meet the Mayors of Lowell

#	Mayor	Picture	Term	Party	Notes
1st	Elisha Bartlett		1836–1838	Whig
2nd	Luther Lawrence		1838 – April 17, 1839	Federalist
A	Elisha Huntington		April 1839 – April 1840	Whig	Became acting mayor after the death of Luther Lawrence.
3rd	Elisha Huntington		April 1840 – April 1842	Whig
4th	Nathaniel Wright		April 1842 – April 1844	Citizens ticket, (1842); Whig (1843)
5th	Elisha Huntington		April 1844 – January 1846	Whig
6th	Jefferson Bancroft		1846–1848	Whig
7th	Josiah B. French		1849–1850	Coalitionist/Democratic
8th	James H.B. Ayer		1851	Whig
9th	Elisha Huntington		January 1852 – January 1853	Whig
10th	Sewall G. Mack		1853–1854	Whig
11th	Ambrose Lawrence		1855	Native American Party
12th	Elisha Huntington		1856	Whig
13th	Stephen Mansur		1857	Republican
14th	Elisha Huntington		January 1858 – January 1859	Whig
15th	James Cook		1859	Republican
16th	Benjamin C. Sargent		1860–1861	Republican
17th	Hocum Hosford		1862–1865	Citizens ticket (1862–1863), Republican (1864)
18th	Josiah G. Peabody		1865–1866	Republican
19th	George F. Richardson		1867 – January 4, 1869	Republican
20th	Jonathan P. Folsom		January 4, 1869 – 1870	Republican
21st	Edward Fay Sherman		1871	Republican
22nd	Josiah G. Peabody		1872	Republican
23rd	Francis Jewett		1873–1875	Republican
24th	Charles A. Stott		January 1, 1876 – 1877	Republican
25th	John A. G. Richardson		January 7, 1878 – 1879	Democratic
26th	Frederic T. Greenhalge		1880 – January 2, 1882	Republican
27th	George Runels		January 2, 1882	Republican
28th	John J. Donovan		1883–1884	Democratic	First Irish-American Mayor of Lowell.
29th	Edward J. Noyes		1885	Republican
30th	James C. Abbott		1886–1887	Democratic
31st	Charles Dana Palmer		1888 – January 1891	Republican
32nd	George W. Fifield		January 1891 – 1892	Democratic
33rd	John J. Pickman		1893–1894	Republican
34th	William F. Courtney		1895–1897	Democratic
35th	Col. James W. Bennett		1898	Republican
36th	Jeremiah Crowley		1899–1900	Democratic	Irish-American.
37th	Charles A. R. Dimon		1901 – May 5, 1902	Democratic
A	William E. Badger		1902	Republican	Acting mayor.
38th	Charles E. Howe		1903–1904	Republican
39th	James B. Casey		1905–1906	Democratic	Irish-American.
40th	Frederick W. Farnham		1907–1908	Republican
41st	George H. Brown		January 1, 1909-January, 1910	Republican
42nd	John F. Meehan		1910–1911	Democratic	Irish-American.
43rd	James E. O'Donnell		1912–1913	Democratic	Irish-American.
44th	Dennis J. Murphy		1914–1915	Democratic	Irish-American.
45th	James E. O'Donnell		1916–1917	Democratic
46th	Perry D. Thompson		1918–1921	Republican
47th	George H. Brown		1922	Republican
48th	John J. Donovan		1923–1926	Democratic
49th	Thomas J. Corbett		1927–1928	Democratic
50th	Thomas H. Braden		1929–1931	Republican
52nd	Charles H. Slowey		1932–1933	Democratic
53rd	James J. Bruin		1934–1935	Democratic
54th	Dewey G. Archambault		1936–1939	Republican	First Franco-American Mayor of Lowell.
55th	George T. Ashe		1940–1943	Democratic
A	Joseph J. Sweeney		1943	Democratic	Acting mayor. He was the last mayor before the City Manager government started.
56th	Woodbury F. Howard		1944–1945	Republican	First ceremonial mayor. This was the start of the "weak mayor" system. The city manager government began on January 1, 1944.
57th	Leo A. Roy		1946–1947	Republican
58th	George A. Ayotte		1948–1949	Republican
59th	William C. Geary		1950	Democratic
60th	George C. Eliades		1951–1952	Democratic	First Greek-American Mayor of Lowell.
61st	Henry Beaudry		1952–1953	Republican
62nd	John Janas		1954–1955	Republican	First Polish-American Mayor of Lowell.
63rd	Samuel S. Pollard		1956–1959	Democratic
64th	Raymond J. Lord		1960–1961	Republican
65th	Joseph M. Downes		1962–1963	Democratic
66th	Ellen A. Sampson		1964–1965	Republican	First Female Mayor of Lowell.
67th	Edward J. Early Jr.		1966–1967	Democratic
68th	Robert G. Maguire		1968–1969	Democratic
69th	Richard P. Howe		1970–1971	Democratic
70th	Ellen A. Sampson		1972–1973	Republican
71st	Armand W. LeMay		1974–1975	Democratic
72nd	Leo J. Farley		1976–1977	Democratic
73rd	Raymond F. Rourke		1978–1979	Democratic
74th	Robert C. Maguire		1980–1981	Democratic
75th	M. Brendan Fleming		1982–1983	Democratic
76th	Brian J. Martin		1984–1985	Democratic
77th	Robert B. Kennedy		1986–1987	Democratic
78th	Richard P. Howe		1988–1991	Democratic
79th	Tarsy T. Poulios		1992–1993	Democratic
80th	Richard P. Howe		1994–1995	Democratic
81st	Edward "Bud" Caulfield		1996–1997
82nd	Eileen Donoghue		1998–2001	Democratic
83rd	Rita Mercier		2002–2003	Democratic
84th	Armand Mercier		2004–2005
85th	William F. Martin		2006–2007	Democratic
86th	Edward "Bud" Caulfield		2008–2009	Democratic
87th	James L. Milinazzo		2010–2011	Democratic	Italian-American.
88th	Patrick O. Murphy		2012–2013	Independent	Inaugurated at age 29, he was the youngest mayor in Lowell history.
89th	Rodney Elliott		2014–2016	Democratic
90th	Edward J. Kennedy		2016–2018	Democratic
91st	William Samaras		2018–2020	Democratic
92nd	John Leahy		2020–2022	Independent
93rd	Sokhary Chau		2022-2024	Democratic	First Cambodian mayor in the United States.
94th	Daniel Rourke		2024–present

Lowell's City Managers