# List of mayors of Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City, Michigan is a home rule, charter city under the Home Rule Cities Act, incorporated on May 18, 1895. The city is governed by six commissioners and a mayor, elected at-large. Together they comprise a seven-member legislative body. The commission appoints a city manager who acts as chief executive for city operations. Below is a list of mayors and village presidents in Traverse City, Michigan. The mayor of Traverse City, Michigan is Amy Shamroe.

## Village presidents (1881–1895)

| Number | Name | Years | Notes |
| 1 | Perry Hannah | 1881–1885 | This was his first term. Perry Hannah was the first village president of Traverse City. |
| 2 | Benjamin D. Ashton | 1886 | |
| 3 | Perry Hannah | 1887–1894 | This was his second term. |

## First city charter (1895–1940)

Traverse City has been a city since 1895. The following are the first 24 mayors under the first city charter:
| Number | Name | Year(s) | Notes |
| 1 | Perry Hannah | 1895 | Perry Hannah was the first Mayor of Traverse City, Michigan. He previously served as village president prior to the changeover to a mayoral system. Owner of Perry Hannah House and namesake of Hannah Avenue and Park |
| 2 | Harry C. Davis | 1896 | Namesake of Davis Street |
| 3 | William W. Smith | 1897–1898 | |
| 4 | Frank Hamilton | 1899 | Namesake of Hamilton Street |
| 5 | Alfred V. Friedrich | 1900 | |
| 6 | John Patchin | 1901 | |
| 7 | Oscar P. Carver | 1902 | Namesake of Carver Street |
| 8 | John R. Santo | 1903 | Namesake of Santo Street |
| 9 | Elisha J. Fulghum | 1904 | |
| 10 | A.V. Friedrich | 1905–1907 | |
| 11 | William D.C. Germaine | 1908–1909 | This was his first term. He was the owner, editor, and publisher of the weekly newspaper, the Traverse City Transcript. He was born on October 17, 1866, in Traverse City to Cuyler Germaine and Anna Kratochvil. He married Ola W. Hull on July 27, 1895. He died on January 3, 1943, in Traverse City. |
| 12 | Emanuel Wilhelm | 1910–1911 | |
| 13 | William D.C. Germaine | 1912 | This was his second term. |
| 14 | John G. Straub | 1913 | |
| 15 | C.L. Greilick | 1914–1915 | Namesake of Camp Greilick in East Bay Township |
| 16 | Edward Lautner | 1916–1917 | |
| 17 | Lafayette Swanton | 1918–1922 | |
| 18 | James T. Milliken | 1923–1928 | Father of future governor William Milliken |
| 19 | George W. Lardie | 1929–1930 | |
| 20 | Charles C. Wells | 1931–1932 | |
| 21 | E.L. Thirlby | 1933–1934 | Namesake of Thirlby Field |
| 22 | Moses Orville Champney | 1935–1936 | He was born on March 14, 1887, in Birmingham, Ohio. He died on July 12, 1952, in Traverse City. |
| 23 | Conrad H. Foster | 1937–1938 | He was the founder of the Clinch Park Zoo, and also founder and namesake of the Con Foster Museum in Traverse City. The zoo closed in 2006 and the museum prior to that. He died of a heart attack in Traverse City on April 3, 1940. |

## City commission elections (1941–2000)

In 1940, a new city charter amendment was passed, allowing for mayors to be voted for directly by the city commission of Traverse City.
| Number | Name | Years | Notes |
| 24 | Adolph LaFranier | 1939–1940 | Namesake of LaFranier Road |
| 25 | Orr E. Mead | 1941 | |
| 26 | Delmer R. Zimmerman | 1942 | |
| 27 | J.E. Ehrenberger | 1943 | |
| 28 | Carl Anderson | 1944 | |
| 29 | Ben H. Koenig | 1945 | |
| 30 | F.G. Swartz | 1946–1947 | |
| 31 | Hugh J. Johnson | 1948 | |
| 32 | Peter Clancy | 1949 | |
| 33 | Wilbur G. Watson | 1950 | |
| 34 | Julius C. Sleder | 1951 | |
| 35 | Jack D. Nelson | 1952 | |
| 36 | J. Kent Wright | 1953 | |
| 37 | Charles H. Round | 1954 | |
| 38 | Frank H. Power | 1955–1956 | |
| 39 | A.R. Jacobs | 1957 | |
| 40 | J.H. Stevens | 1958 | |
| 41 | Fritz Coppens | 1959 | |
| 42 | H.R. Murchie | 1960 | Namesake of Murchie Bridge |
| 43 | Frank L. Stulen | 1961 | Namesake of Parsons-Stulen Building |
| 44 | Larry Hardy | 1962 | |
| 45 | Robert H. Chase | 1963 | |
| 46 | Ralph Puclipher | 1964 | |
| 47 | Kenneth Lindsay | 1965 | |
| 48 | Carter B. Strong | 1966 | |
| 49 | Vincent Fochtman | 1967 | |
| 50 | Royce Kephart | 1968 | |
| 51 | Nick Rajkovich | 1969 | |
| 52 | William K. Lynch | 1970 | |
| 53 | John Rokos | 1971 | |
| 54 | Richard Purvis | 1972 | |
| 55 | John W. Rennie | 1973 | |
| 56 | Carl Huffman | 1974 | |
| 57 | Diane C. Gilbo | 1975 | |
| 58 | Raymond L. Sutton | 1976 | |
| 59 | Howard A. Bartling | 1977 | |
| 60 | Peter C. Dendrinos | 1978 | Namesake of Dendrinos Center and Dendrinos Drive |
| 61 | Calvin G. Martin | 1979 | |
| 62 | Norman A. Kline | 1980 | |
| 63 | Lawrence A. Muzzarelli | 1981–1982 | |
| 64 | Carol J. Hale | 1983 | |
| 65 | Frederick D. Nelson | 1984 | |
| 66 | Phillip E. Orth | 1985 | |
| 67 | Gerald M. Williams | 1986 | |
| 68 | Geraldine D. Greene | 1987 | |
| 69 | Bryan J. Crough | 1988 | |
| 70 | Phillip E. Rodgers Jr. | 1989 | |
| 71 | Al Ritchie | 1990 | |
| 72 | Jim F. Tompkins Jr. | 1991 | |
| 73 | Peter T. Taylor | 1992 | |
| 74 | Linda M. Johnson | 1993 | |
| 75 | Jack E. Boynton | 1994 | |
| 76 | Jim F. Tompkins Jr. | 1995 | |
| 77 | Peter T. Taylor | 1996 | |
| 78 | Shelley A. Kester | 1996 | |
| 79 | Phillip E. Orth | 1997 | |
| 80 | Larry Hardy | 1998 | |
| 81 | Jim F. Tompkins Jr. | 1999 | |
| 82 | Linda Smyka | 2000 | |
| 83 | Larry Hardy | 2001 | |

## City voter elections (2000–present)

In 2000, a new city charter amendment allowed for the citizens of Traverse City to vote directly for mayor. Mayors now could hold unlimited terms of two years.
| Number | Name | Years | Notes |
| 84 | Margaret B. Dodd | 2001–2003 | |
| 85 | Linda Smyka | 2003–2005 | |
| 86 | Michael Estes | 2005–2007 | One term, first time in office. |
| 87 | Chris M. Bzdok | 2009–2011 | |
| 88 | Michael Estes | 2011–2015 | Two terms, second time in office. |
| 89 | Jim Carruthers | 2015–2021 | Served three consecutive terms, and was Traverse City's first openly gay mayor |
| 90 | Richard Lewis | 2021–2023 | Former city council member |
| 91 | Amy Shamroe | 2023– | Mayor pro tem from 2017 to 2023 |