Borough Officials, 1799-present (West Chester, Pennsylvania) by Tom Pitt and Jim Jones ---   Go to Riggtown Home or the HIS480 Syllabus   ---

This page contains the names of more than one thousand people who served in the government of the Borough of West Chester since its inception in 1799. The data from 1799 to 1999 was compiled by Thomas A. Pitt Jr. for the Bicentennial Celebration of the Borough of West Chester in 1999 and he has generously granted permission to include it on this Web site for use by researchers, students, and everyone with an interest in the history of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Updates since then have been provided by Jim Jones.

The earliest form of government from 1799 to 1895 consisted of a Chief Burgess, Second Burgess, and Assistant Burgesses who were elected each year. After 1895, the Chief Burgess became simply the "Burgess," the Second Burgess became the "President of Council," and the Assistant Burgesses became "Members of Council." They continued to be elected on an annual basis until 1912, after which elections were held every two years. In 1961, the form of government changed again. The Burgess became the "Mayor" while the other titles (President of Council and Members of Council) remained the same. In 1962, a new statute created the position of "Vice President of Council."

Before 1988, all Borough government positions were filled by elections held "at-large" throughout the Borough. On May 13, 1988, the Borough was divided into seven wards and Council Members began to be elected from each ward instead of "at-large." The first elections under the new system were held in the odd-numbered wards in 1988 and in 1990, new Council Members were elected from the even-numbered wards.

All Council Members serve four-year terms under the new system and are limited to two terms with two exceptions. The first was Eleanor E. Loper, who was elected to her first term on Council in the fall of 1987, and was reelected twice under the new system. The other was Ann M. Carroll, who was elected on June 14, 1995 to complete the term of Boyd C. Davis and then elected to two full terms in 1996 and 2000.

Copyright 2010 by Dr. James A. Jones