Baltimore City Council, First Branch

Archives of Maryland
Historical List
Baltimore City Council, First Branch, 1797-1923

The composition and number of seats in First Branch of the City Council changed over time, as did the number of wards and districts in the city. From 1797 until 1845, each ward elected two members to serve a one-year term [City Charter, Laws of 1796, Chap. 68]. This was reduced to one member per ward in 1846 [Laws of 1844, Chap. 282]. From 1899 to 1910, members served two-year terms, and from 1911 to 1923, they served four years [Second City Charter, Laws of 1898, Chap. 123, Sects. 209-216; Laws of 1908, Chap. 257].

Number of Wards
1797: 8
1817: 11
1818: 12
1842: 14
1844: 20
1882: 22
1898: 24 (renumbered in 1901)
1918: 28

Members of the First Branch, by year

1797-1809	1810-1819	1820-1829	1830-1839	1840-1849	1850-1859
1860-1869	1870-1879	1880-1889	1890-1899	1900-1909	1910-1923

Members of the First Branch, by ward

First Ward	Second Ward	Third Ward	Fourth Ward	Fifth Ward	Sixth Ward	Seventh Ward
Eighth Ward	Ninth Ward	Tenth Ward	Eleventh Ward	Twelfth Ward	Thirteenth Ward	Fourteenth Ward
Fifteenth Ward	Sixteenth Ward	Seventeenth Ward	Eighteenth Ward	Nineteenth Ward	Twentieth Ward	Twenty-First Ward
Twenty-Second Ward	Twenty-Third Ward	Twenty-Fourth Ward	Twenty-Fifth Ward	Twenty-Sixth Ward	Twenty-Seventh Ward	Twenty-Eighth Ward

Sources:

BALTIMORE CITY ARCHIVES (City Council) Administrative Files [BRG16-1]
BALTIMORE CITY ARCHIVES (City Council) City Council Journal of Proceedings [BRG16-2]
BALTIMORE CITY SUPERIOR COURT (Election Returns) MSA T3346
Baltimore American & Daily Advertiser
Baltimore Patriot
Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser
The Sun (Baltimore)
John Thomas Scharf, Chronicles of Baltimore: Being a Complete History of Baltimore Town and Baltimore City from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1874.
William G. LeFurgy, "Baltimore's Wards, 1797-1978: A Guide," Maryland Historical Magazine 75, no. 2 (Jun. 1980): 145-153.

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