The Mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is a political position dating from 1917, arising from the merger of Borough of Bethlehem and the Borough of South Bethlehem, which came together as the city of Bethlehem. J. William Reynolds is the current mayor having been sworn in on January 3, 2022.
Separate boroughs
Prior to the unification of Bethlehem and South Bethlehem into a single city, both Bethlehems' executive was known as the Chief Burgess, a title derived from the English office of Burgess which usually denoted the elected official of a municipality. Bethlehem used the title until 1886, while South Bethlehem used the title until 1913. The office would survive in the Borough of Bethlehem, not as the municipalities executive, but rather as the head Magistrate. A Chief Burgess would hold office for a one year term, the length of a session of the city council, and there was no term limits.
Borough of Bethlehem Chief Burgess Bethlehem, or North Bethlehem, is the traditional core of Bethlehem, where the original Moravian settlement stood. The oldest of the Bethlehems, its politics was dominated by Moravians until 1880. It was separated from South Bethlehem and Northampton Heights by the Lehigh River and West Bethlehem by the Monocacy Creek.
Name Party Term begins Term ends Term length Notes Charles A. Luckenbach 1845 1846 2 years First Chief Burgess John M. Miksch 1847 1848 2 years First term E.F. Bleck 1849 1850 2 years First term Jacob Wolle 1851 1851 1 year First term Jedidiah Weiss 1852 1852 1 year E.F. Bleck 1853 1853 1 year Second term Philip H. Goepp 1854 1854 1 year Benjamin Van Kirk 1855 1856 2 years Jacob Wolle 1857 1859 3 years Second term Ira Cortright 1860 1861 2 years Nathan Bartlett 1862 1862 1 year John M. Miksch 1863 1863 1 year Second term Charles F. Beckel 1864 1869 5 years C.E. Peisert 1870 1870 1 year Ambrose J. Erwin 1871 1873 (?) 3(?) years George H. Meyers188018877 yearsLutheran, first non-Moravian to hold the office. Jacob B. Kemerer Democrat 1887 1893 6 years Presbyterian and local lawyer, later elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate. Paul Kempsmith 1893 1895 2 years Lutheran C.M. Dodson 1895 1897 2 years Episcopalian William Edward Martin Republican 1908 1914 6 Years A Yale University-educated doctor, active in local trade and industrial boards. James Yeakel Democrat 1914 1918 4 Years Local coachbuilder and councilman, later elected the city's second mayor.
Borough of South Bethlehem Chief Burgess During the period of Moravian dominance until 1846, South Bethlehem was where the Moravians housed non-Moravian travelers, building an inn south of the river, allowing outsiders to engage in trade and rest, but also keeping them separated from the settlement. The Moravians also allowed several Huguenot farmers to settle on the south side. It would not be until the end of the American Civil War in 1865 when South Bethlehem would be incorporated as its own borough, expanding southward several times until it bordered Hellertown. It was separated from North and West Bethlehem by the Lehigh River, and was bordered in the northeast by Northampton Heights.
Name Party Term begins Term ends Term length Notes James McMahon ? 1865 Named the borough's first Chief Burgess during its incorporation. Elisha P. Wilbur 5 years Sat on South Bethlehem's first borough council for two terms before serving as Chief Burgess for five straight one year terms. H. Stanley Goodwin Republican 1875 1892 17 years Professor at Lehigh University, general superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. A Republican in a staunchly Democrat borough, local humorists joked the favorite pastime of South Bethlehmites was to stone Republican parades. Died in office in 1892. Henry Coppée 1894 Professor and First President of Lehigh University. Has a building named after him. Robert S. Taylor 1905 Professor at Lehigh University.
Borough of West Bethlehem Chief Burgess Separated from North Bethlehem by the Monocacy Creek and South Bethlehem by the Lehigh River, during the early history of Bethlehem, the area known as West Bethlehem consisted of the sole chapel and burial ground for non-Moravians, mostly consisting of soldiers from the American Revolutionary War, who died while being treated in the Brothers house when it was repurposed into a hospital. However, starting in 1830, industries such as lumber mills and coal furnaces where constructed by local businessman Timothy Weiss, as well as housing for workers. The community would continue to grow, with a school being built in 1860, and a rail station in 1867, finally by 1886 residents where fed up with paying for taxes to North Bethlehem, and receiving little in return. As such they elected their own rival municipal government on September 16, 1886, and secured incorporation as West Bethlehem on October 25. Until the Borough's annexation by North Bethlehem on August 16, 1904, they too would use the Chief Burgess as their municipal executive.
No. Name Term begins Term ends Term length Notes 1st Marcus C. Fetter September 16, 1886 1889 3 years First Chief Burgess of West Bethlehem 2nd George H. Young 1890 1892 2 years Won office on a reformist "citizens' ticket." 3rd Marcus C. Fetter 1893 1897 5 years Second term. 4th Leo A. Stem 1898 1900 2 years Local coal businessman. 5th J. A. Eberts 1901 1903 3 years Signed the ordinance agreeing to annexation into Bethlehem. 6th A. C. Huff 1904 August 16, 1904 1 year Last Chief Burgess, later Bethlehem's city council president.
Borough of Northampton Heights Chief Burgess Northampton Heights was incorporated on February 20, 1901 and at its peak consisted of 280 houses with a population of 1,000. The borough was adamantly against joining South Bethlehem, but not a unified Bethlehem, remaining an independent municipality until October 21, 1918. In 1918 the borough attempted to be annexed by Hellertown, Pennsylvania in order for the new combined municipalities to become a city, however, Bethlehem annexed land between Northampton Heights and Hellertown to prevent this. After being incorporated the neighborhood remained a distinct community until the 60's consisting of a mix of Windish, Hungarian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Pennsylvania Dutch. In 1963 Bethlehem Steel purchased the entire neighborhood and razed it to make an oxygen furnace. Like the other boroughs, Northampton Heights also used the Chief Burgess system.
Name Party Term begins Term ends Term length Notes Harry W. Yost March 19, 1901 George Brown October 21, 1918
Borough of Bethlehem Mayors The Borough of Bethlehem replaced their Chief Burgess with a more traditional mayoral government in 1886.
No. Mayor Party Term begins Term ends Term length Notes 1st Andrew Harford Boyle Democratic 1886 1913 27 years First Mayor of Bethlehem. Born in 1839 in Burtonport, Ireland. He was a successful merchant and engineer before being elected mayor in 1886. He would die in office in 1913. 2nd Archibald Johnston Republican 1913 1917 4 years A Roosevelt Republican and Vice President of Bethlehem Steel, Johnston was the last mayor of the borough of Bethlehem.
Borough of South Bethlehem Mayors In 1913 the Borough of South Bethlehem was incorporated as the City of South Bethlehem in an effort to stave off merger with the rest of Bethlehem. With the new municipal government the Chief Burgess was done away with and replaced with a mayoral government. However, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania determined that the incorporation was unconstitutional and in 1915 the borough of South Bethlehem, and the Chief Burgess, was restored.
No. Mayor Term begins Term ends Term length Notes 1st Mitchell Walter 1913 1915 2 years The only mayor of South Bethlehem, Dr Mitchell Walter was not a politician, rather coming from a long line of notable local physicians.
Term limits In October 1973, just before the 15th mayoral election as the city was about to elect its 6th mayor, the council voted in favor of an ordinance limiting Bethlehem mayors to two full four-year terms (in addition to a partial term as an interim mayor if applicable). The ordinance was never submitted to, or challenged by, the voters. At the time, Bethlehem was the only city in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia that had term limits for mayor. This ordinance was ruled illegal by the Northampton County Court shortly after and mayor Paul Marcincin, who had voted in favor of the ordinance in 1973 when he was on the city council, used the court ruling to run for a third term in 1985. However, the city council challenged the legality of his third term and the case was brought before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which, in 1987, struck down the Northampton County Court ruling and restored the 1973 ordinance. Marcincin would step down resulting in the first interim mayor in Bethlehem's history, as well as solidifying the two term limit for mayors.
Mayors of Bethlehem