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, 2021.^[1]

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.^[2]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2023)

More information Name, Party ...

Name	Party	Term Begins	Term Ends	Term Length	Notes
Charles A. Luckenbach		1845	1846	2 years	First Chief Burgess[2][3]
John M. Miksch		1847	1848	2 years	First term[3]
E.F. Bleck		1849	1850	2 years	First term[3]
Jacob Wolle		1851	1851	1 year	First term[3]
Jedidiah Weiss		1852	1852	1 year	[3]
E.F. Bleck		1853	1853	1 year	Second term [3]
Philip H. Goepp		1854	1854	1 year	[3]
Benjamin Van Kirk		1855	1856	2 years	[3]
Jacob Wolle		1857	1859	3 years	Second term[3]
Ira Cortright		1860	1861	2 years	[3]
Nathan Bartlett		1862	1862	1 year	[3]
John M. Miksch		1863	1863	1 year	Second term[3]
Charles F. Beckel		1864	1869	5 years	[3]
C.E. Peisert		1870	1870	1 year	[3]
Ambrose J. Erwin		1871	1873 (?)	3(?) years	[3]
George H. Meyers		1880	1887	7 years	Lutheran, first non-Moravian to hold the office.[2]
Jacob B. Kemerer	Democrat	1887	1893	6 years	Presbyterian and local lawyer, later elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate.[4][2]
Paul Kempsmith		1893	1895	2 years	Lutheran[2]
C.M. Dodson		1895	1897	2 years	Episcopalian[2]
William Edward Martin	Republican	1908	1914	6 Years	A Yale University-educated doctor, active in local trade and industrial boards.[5]
James Yeakel	Democrat	1914	1918	4 Years	Local coachbuilder and councilman, later elected the city's second mayor.[5]

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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.^[2]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2023)

More information Name, Party ...

Name	Party	Term Begins	Term Ends	Term Length	Notes
James McMahon	?	1865			Named the borough's first Chief Burgess during its incorporation.[6]
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.[2]
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.[7][2]
Henry Coppée		1894			Professor and First President of Lehigh University. Has a building named after him.[7]
Robert S. Taylor		1905			Professor at Lehigh University.[7]

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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.