List of mayors and city managers of Lowell, Massachusetts

This is a list of mayors and city managers of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell became a city in 1836. From 1836 to 1943 the mayor of Lowell was the chief administrative officer of the city. Lowell switched to a Massachusetts "Plan E" form of city government in 1943, since January 1, 1944 the city has been administrated by a professional city manager, the office of mayor, while retained under "Plan E", is strictly a ceremonial one.

Mayors

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Mayor of Lowell
Incumbent
Daniel Rourke
since January 2, 2024[1]
StyleHis/Her Honor
TypeCeremonial
Member ofSchool Committee
ResidenceNone official
SeatLowell City Hall
AppointerCity Council vote
Term lengthTwo years
Constituting instrumentLowell City Charter
PrecursorLowell Board of Selectmen
(1826-1836)
Formation1836
First holderElisha Bartlett
Salary$30,000 (2017)[2]
Websitewww.lowellma.gov/549/City-Mayor
# 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 in April 1839.
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[3]
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[4]
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[5]
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[6]
28th John J. Donovan 1883–1884 Democratic First Irish-American Mayor of Lowell [7]
29th Edward J. Noyes 1885 Republican[8]
30th James C. Abbott 1886–1887 Democratic[9]
31st Charles Dana Palmer   1888 – January 1891 Republican[10]
32nd George W. Fifield   January 1891 – 1892 Democratic[11]
33rd John J. Pickman   1893–1894 Republican
34th William F. Courtney 1895–1897 Democratic[12]
35th Col. James W. Bennett 1898 Republican[13]
36th Jeremiah Crowley   1899–1900 Democratic Irish-American
37th Charles A. R. Dimon   1901 – May 5, 1902 Democratic[14]
A William E. Badger 1902 Republican Acting
38th Charles E. Howe 1903–1904 Republican
39th James B. Casey 1905–1906 Democratic[15] 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[16] Irish-American
43rd James E. O'Donnell 1912–1913 Democratic Irish-American
44th Dennis J. Murphy 1914–1915 Democratic[17] 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[18]
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[19]
55th George T. Ashe   1940–1943 Democratic
A Joseph J. Sweeney 1943 Democratic Acting mayor.
Last mayor before the City Manager form of government was established under a Massachusetts Plan E Charter.
56th Woodbury F. Howard 1944–1945 Republican[20] First ceremonial mayor.
Beginning of the weak mayor system.
City manager form of government
established on January 1, 1944.
57th Leo A. Roy 1946–1947 Republican
58th George A. Ayotte 1948–1949 Republican
59th William C. Geary 1950 Democratic[21]
60th George C. Eliades 1951–1952 Democratic First Greek-American Mayor of Lowell [22]
61st Henry Beaudry   1952–1953 Republican[23]
62nd John Janas   1954–1955 Republican[24] First Polish-American Mayor of Lowell [25]
63rd Samuel S. Pollard 1956–1959 Democratic[26]
64th Raymond J. Lord 1960–1961 Republican[27]
65th Joseph M. Downes 1962–1963 Democratic[28]
66th Ellen A. Sampson   1964–1965 Republican First Female Mayor of Lowell[29]
67th Edward J. Early Jr. 1966–1967 Democratic
68th Robert G. Maguire 1968–1969 Democratic
69th Richard P. Howe 1970–1971 Democratic[30]
70th Ellen A. Sampson   1972–1973 Republican[31]
71st Armand W. LeMay 1974–1975 Democratic[32]
72nd Leo J. Farley 1976–1977 Democratic
73rd Raymond F. Rourke   1978–1979 Democratic
74th Robert C. Maguire 1980–1981 Democratic[33]
75th M. Brendan Fleming   1982–1983 Democratic[34]
76th Brian J. Martin   1984–1985 Democratic[35]
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[36]
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[37] Inaugurated at age 29,
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

City Managers

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# City Manager Term Notes
1st John J. Flannery 1944–1952
2nd Ulysses J. Lupien 1952–1953 former Massachusetts Director of Civil Service (1939–1944)
A William Sullivan 1953
3rd Frank E. Barrett 1953–1962
4th Cornelius Desmond 1962–1963 former State Representative (1941–1962)
5th P. Harold Ready 1963–1966
6th Charles Gallagher 1966–1970
A Leo Morris 1970
7th James Sullivan 1970–1974 former and future City Manager of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1968–1970, 1974–1981)
A Robert W. Healy 1974 future City Manager of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1981–2013)
8th Paul J. Sheehy 1974–1975 former State Representative (1965–1972)
A William Busby 1975
9th William S. Taupier 1975–1979 former Mayor of Holyoke (1968–1975)
A Victor Normand 1979
10th B. Joseph Tully 1979–1987 former State Senator (1971–1979)
11th James Campbell 1987–1991
A James Kennedy 1991 Assistant City Manager
12th Richard Johnson 1991–1995 former Mayor of Taunton (1982–1992)
13th Brian J. Martin 1995–2000 former Mayor (1984–1985)
14th John F. Cox 2000–2006 former State Representative (1983–1995)
A James Kennedy 2006 Assistant City Manager
15th Bernard F. Lynch 2006–2014 1st Town Manager of Chelmsford (1989–2006)[38]
A Michael Geary 2014 City Clerk (Dec. 2011-present) & former City Councilor (1994–1996)
16th Kevin J. Murphy 2014–2018 former State Representative (1997–2014)
17th Eileen Donoghue 2018–2022 former Mayor (1998–2002) & State Senator (2011–2018)
A Michael Geary 2022 City Clerk (Dec. 2011-present) & former City Councilor (1994–1996)
18th Thomas Golden Jr. 2022–present former State Representative (1995–2022)

References

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  1. ^ Gilbert, Melanie (January 2, 2024). "Hail to the new Lowell City Council". Lowell Sun. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  2. ^ Siefer, Ted (October 12, 2016). "In Lowell, higher salaries for a higher purpose". CommonWealth Magazine. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. ^ Duane Hamilton Hurd, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches, Volume 2, 1890
  4. ^ The Lowell Sun, The Latest Combination for a Republican Ticket, July 23, 1887
  5. ^ The Lowell Sun, The Spellbinder – A Sensitive Politician, August 1, 1914
  6. ^ The Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine, Volumes 43–44, Concord, NH, 1911
  7. ^ Marie, "Some Mayoral History", RichardHowe.com, January 5, 2014.
  8. ^ The Boston Daily Globe, In Smaller Cities – Lowell, December 10, 1884
  9. ^ The Lowell Sun, A Democratic Duty, December 11, 1886
  10. ^ The Lowell Sun, Senter and Drury – These Are the Gentlemen the Democrats Elect Aldermen, December 15, 1888
  11. ^ Frederick William Coburn, History of Lowell and Its People, Volume 1, 1920, p. 361
  12. ^ The Lowell Sun, William F. Courtney for Mayor – Renominated with Great Enthusiasm at the Democratic Convention, November 27, 1895
  13. ^ The Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine, Volumes 34–35, Concord, NH, 1903
  14. ^ The Lowell Sun, The Spellbinder – The Next Election, April 29, 1916
  15. ^ The Lowell Sun, Many Surprises, December 9, 1908
  16. ^ The Lowell Sun, Results of Last Night's Contests in the Primaries, November 24, 1909
  17. ^ The Lowell Sun, Big Caucuses – Democrats Turn Out Strongly in all Wards, November 16, 1901
  18. ^ The Lowell Sun, Four Members of Present City Government Give Up Posts, September 9, 1939
  19. ^ The Lowell Sun, The Archambault Family, June 24, 1982
  20. ^ The Lowell Sun, Bitter Battle on City's Next Mayor, November 7, 1947
  21. ^ The Lowell Sun, Reception to Governor Here Tomorrow, April 29, 1950
  22. ^ Lowell Historical Society, "Lowell History Chronology", 2013
  23. ^ The Lowell Sun, Roy, Beaudry, Sullivan and Sweeney Gain on Transfers, November 10, 1951
  24. ^ Frank Barrett, The Lowell Sun, Politics, January 10, 1951
  25. ^ The Lowell Sun, Council Elects Janas Mayor, April 14, 1954
  26. ^ The Lowell Sun, How Vote Went in City Precincts, November 5, 1953
  27. ^ The Lowell Sun, Raymond J. Lord Dies at 59, February 7, 1972
  28. ^ Frank Barrett, The Lowell Sun, Janas, Pollard, Hockmeyer, McMahon, Ayotte, Beaudry 'In', November 5, 1953
  29. ^ "Looking good, mayors". Lowell Sun. April 14, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  30. ^ Frank Barrett, The Lowell Sun, Councilor and Former Mayor Howe Eyes Challenge to Sen. Joseph Tully, April 23, 1972
  31. ^ The Lowell Sun, Voters: Sheehy, Sampson to Win, September 14, 1972
  32. ^ Frank Barrett, The Lowell Sun, High Hopes for Advisory Cabinet Plan, July 15, 1979
  33. ^ The Lowell Sun, Maguire Endorses Hatem for Congress, September 15, 1980
  34. ^ The Lowell Sun, Who Goofed on Fleming Endorsement?, August 29, 1982
  35. ^ The Lowell Sun, Election-Watcher's Program for the Races, September 14, 1986
  36. ^ City Councilor and former Mayor Rita Mercier endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown over Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren in 2012; Lyle Moran, The Lowell Sun, Mercier, a Democrat, endorses Republican Brown, September 14, 2012
  37. ^ Camire, Chris (August 29, 2012) "GOP, Lowell Mayor Spar Over His 'Independent' Warren Endorsement", The Lowell Sun.
  38. ^ "Former Lowell manager Lynch to lead Winchendon on interim basis". June 3, 2015.
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