Preston, James H., 1860-1938

James Harry Preston (March 23, 1860 – July 14, 1938); Mayor of Baltimore from 1911 to 1919. Preston was born in Harford County, Maryland in 1860. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1890 to 1894. He briefly served as Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1894. Preston then served as the Mayor of Baltimore from 1911 to 1919. In 1912, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. While there, he received a few votes for the vice presidential nomination. He served as the 32nd President General of the Sons of the American Revolution. Preston died on July 14, 1938.

James Harry Preston was born in Harford County, Maryland, in 1860. He attended St. John's College in Annapolis and the University of Maryland Law School, from which he graduated in 1881. While he was practicing law, Preston was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1889, winning re-election in 1893. He became Speaker of the House in 1894. After becoming involved in Baltimore City politics, he was appointed to the Board of Police Commissioners in 1904. Preston, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1910 but was elected Mayor of Baltimore in 1911. Preston modernized much of the city of Baltimore, a significant portion of which had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1904. During his two terms as mayor, he oversaw the completion of sewerage and water systems and roads. James H. Preston died in 1938.