Alpheus P. Hodges was the first mayor of Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 after the city was incorporated on April 4, 1850. However, he was preceded by Stephen C. Foster

Stephen C. Foster (politician)

Stephen Clark Foster was a politician, the first American mayor of Los Angeles under United States military rule. Foster served in the state constitutional convention, and was elected to the State Senate...

, who was the first mayor under American rule.

Hodges was originally a physician, but served as both the mayor and coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

 of Los Angeles from 1850 to 1851. At that time, the population of the city was only 1,610. A native of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, he became mayor of the new city at age 28. He served as mayor for only a year, that being the term of the office at that time. He later returned to Virginia, and died in Alexandria at the home of his father on July 29, 1858. He was aged 36 years and ten months.