Robert W. Lyon

Robert W. Lyon

Portrait of Robert W. Lyon,
c. 1881–1884
32nd Mayor of Pittsburgh
In office
1881–1884
Preceded by Robert Liddell
Succeeded by Andrew Fulton
Personal details
Born May 22, 1842
Butler County, Pennsylvania
Died October 9, 1904(1904-10-09) (aged 62)

Robert W. Lyon (May 22, 1842 – October 9, 1904) was Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1881 to 1884.

Early life

Mayor Lyon was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania north of Pittsburgh in 1842. He joined the 102nd Pennsylvania Volunteers during the American Civil War. When he came home from war Lyon made a small fortune in the petroleum industry.

Pittsburgh politics

Mayor Lyon won election in 1881 and was best known as "the working man's mayor." He guided city hall into the completion of the Smithfield Street Bridge and the successful annexation of the Garfield neighborhood. The AFL, forerunner to the AFL-CIO, was founded in Pittsburgh under his administration.

In 1884, he went to work in a steel mill and worked in county government until his death in 1904. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in the west suburb of McKees Rocks.

See also

Political offices
Preceded by
Robert Liddell
Mayor of Pittsburgh
1881–1884
Succeeded by
Andrew Fulton
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