John S. Herron

John S. Herron (November 7, 1872 – September 13, 1947), served as the 48th Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1933 to 1934.

Early life

Born in Oswego, New York, Herron came to Pittsburgh as a blue-collar worker and quickly entered leadership as President of the Bricklayers Union. Using his labor connections Herron ran for City Council successfully in 1913 and served on council until his victory in the mayor's race of 1933.

Pittsburgh politics

Herron served only one term as Pittsburgh Mayor and had an uneventful administration. During his term the city adopted the repeal of the commonwealth's "Sunday Blue Laws" prohibiting business and sports for 24 hours. The repeal of the Blue Laws made it possible for the future Pittsburgh Steelers to join the National Football League. Upon leaving the mayor's office he served as County Commissioner until his death in 1947.

To date, Herron holds the distinction of having been the last Republican mayor of the City of Pittsburgh.

Mayors of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since the 1816 City Charter Denny Darragh Snowden Murray M. Lowrie Murray Pettigrew McClintock Little Irwin Thomson Hay Howard Kerr Adams J. Herron Barker J. Guthrie Riddle Volz Bingham Weaver Wilson Sawyer J. Lowry McCarthy Blackmore Brush Blackmore McCarthy Liddell Lyon Fulton McCallin Gourley McKenna Ford Diehl A. Brown J. Brown Hays G. Guthrie Magee Armstrong Babcock Magee Kline J.S. Herron McNair Scully Lawrence Gallagher Barr Flaherty Caliguiri Masloff Murphy O'Connor Ravenstahl Peduto