Ephraim Willard Burr

8th Mayor of San Francisco from 1856 to 1859

Ephraim Willard Burr (1809–1894) was an American businessman, banker, and politician. He served as the 8th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1856 to 1859.

Burr was born on March 7, 1809, in Warren, Rhode Island. He was a Protestant. As a young man, he worked for a whaling company which sent him west. After losing his crew while docked in San Francisco—many sailors were lured away by the prospect of finding gold during the Gold Rush—Burr stayed put and opened a grocery store. His family moved to California to be with him. The venture proved so successful that he opened California's first savings union, the San Francisco Accumulating Fund Association.

He entered politics in 1855 when he petitioned the San Francisco Common Council to curb open stream pollution caused by local slaughterhouses. Burr stated that the pollution caused cholera to enter the streams, causing three deaths—including that of his son.

Burr was soon noticed by the Vigilante movement, who recommended him as the People's Party candidate for mayor. He was elected mayor on November 4, 1856, and took office on November 15 of that year. The Consolidated Act of 1856 had recently passed, where San Francisco merged the city and county government.

Burr had loaned $30,000 to build the now famous San Francisco cable car system, before retiring in 1879. He also built the Burr Mansion in 1875 for his son, which is a San Francisco Designated Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Allyne Park located at corner of Green Street and Gough Street (next to the McElroy Octagon House) in San Francisco, was named for the house owned by oil magnate John Winslow Allyne and his wife Mary Newell Allyne (née Burr), who was Burr's daughter. Around 1963, the Allyne house was donated to the city which tore down the house and created the park.