Hardin Bigelow

Who was Hardin Bigelow?

Hardin Bigelow was the first elected mayor of the city of Sacramento, California, which was known then as "Sacramento City." Bigelow's efforts to construct Sacramento's first levees won him enough support to become mayor in Sacramento's first mayoral elections in February 1850. Bigelow served seven months, from April to November, before succumbing to cholera; while he was mayor, Sacramento averted disaster in a potentially devastating flood, but fell victim to a series of April fires, a riot, and a cholera epidemic.