Tom L. Johnson

Life & Legacy

Tom Loftin Johnson (July 18, 1854 – April 10, 1911) was an American industrialist, Georgist politician, and important figure of the Progressive Era and a pioneer in urban political and social reform. He was a U.S. representative from 1891 to 1895 and mayor of Cleveland for four terms from 1901 to 1909.
Reforms during his tenure as mayor included paving hundreds of miles of streets, socializing rubbish collection, starting a street cleaning force, establishing a modern building code, and the creation of the Cleveland Mall. In 1993, a panel of scholars ranked him second among the ten best mayors in American history.