List of mayors of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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]

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]

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.[8]

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 a unified Bethlehem, remaining an independent municipality until March 2, 1920, nearly 3 years after the city of Bethlehem was incorporated.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] Like the other boroughs, Northampton Heights also used the Chief Burgess system.

The Borough of Bethlehem replaced their Chief Burgess with a more traditional mayoral government in 1886.

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.[15]