Though Arlington wasn’t officially incorporated until 1884, by then it had a mayor who had already served four years: George Finger. Over the years, Arlington’s residents have elected 27 mayors with tenures that ranged from barely a month to more than a quarter-century.

Finger served from 1880 to 1885, took a year off, then served again from 1886 to 1889, though that’s a deceiving number. His successor, E.E. Rankin, served only a single month before turning the reins back over to Finger. At that, Finger’s eight-year longevity was only fifth from the longest.

Former Mayor Tom Vandergriff will likely own the longevity record forever, serving 26 years from 1951-1977. The runners-up in time on the job would be former mayors Robert Cluck and W.F. Altman, both of whom spent 12 years in the office, followed by Richard Greene with 10 years. Despite Vandergriff’s record tenure, the average length of mayoral service over more than a century is slightly less than five years.

Though it is uncommon for mayors to serve split terms in modern history, political upsets were not uncommon in Arlington’s earlier years. Records indicate that often a mayor would be elected, then either be defeated or not run again, only to be re-elected at a different time. Those comeback, split-term mayors included Finger, Willis Timmerman, Dr. R.H. Greer and W.G. Hiett.