Berea (Ky.)

The Village of Berea was incorporated as a 6th class city on May 9, 1890, at a meeting held in the office of the treasurer of Berea College, P.D. Dodge. The town was governed by a five-man Board of Trustees, elected annually, until 1909, when it became a 5th class city and was therefore entitled to have a mayor. During the period covered by the ledger, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees carried out the duties of a mayor. The first chairman of the Board of Trustees was Josiah Burdette. The first mayor, elected in 1909, was Burdette's son-in-law, John L. Gay.