Henry A. Atkins

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Henry A. Atkins

| image = Henry A. Atkins.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption =

| order1 = 1st

| office1 = Mayor of Seattle

| term_start1 = December 2, 1869

| term_end1 = July 31, 1871

| predecessor1 = Office established

| successor1 = John T. Jordan

| birth_date = 1827

| birth_place = Vermont

| death_date = {{Death year and age|1885|1827}}

| death_place = Seattle, Washington

| resting_place = Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington

| party = Republican

| relations =

| spouse = Mary Jane Osborne Barr

| children = 2

| residence =

| occupation =

| alma_mater =

| religion =

| signature =

| footnotes =

}}

Henry Allen Atkins (1827–1885) was an American businessman and the first Mayor of Seattle.

Born in Vermont, Atkins moved to California in 1850 during the gold rush to mine for gold. He arrived in Seattle in 1858, becoming a merchant and businessman.{{cite news |date=March 18, 1951 |title=Seattle Centennial 1851-1951 |page=S–2 |work=The Seattle Times}} Atkins, along with two partners, owned a steam-driven pile driver that was leased for work throughout the Puget Sound region. He helped clear land for the Territorial University campus in what is now the Metropolitan Tract in Downtown Seattle.{{cite web |last=Tate |first=Cassandra |date=September 8, 2004 |title=Henry A. Atkins is elected first mayor of the City of Seattle on July 11, 1870. |url=http://www.historylink.org/File/5737 |work=HistoryLink |accessdate=September 13, 2017}}

Atkins partnered with William H. Shoudy, himself a future mayor, to operate a general store in modern-day Pioneer Square. He also was a partner in the Seattle Gas Company, the Puget Sound Wagon Road Company, and a wharf building business that worked in several ports around the region.

File:Atkins home exterior, near the intersection of 5th Ave and James St, Seattle, nd (PEISER 125).jpeg

Seattle was incorporated by the Washington Territorial Legislature on December 2, 1869, and Atkins was appointed its first mayor. He was elected to the position outright on July 11, 1870, defeating Henry Yesler by sixteen votes, and served until July 1871.{{cite web |title=Historic Election Results |url=http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/seattle-facts/historical-election-results |publisher=Seattle Municipal Archives |accessdate=September 13, 2017}} He remained involved in civic affairs after his mayoral tenure, later serving as sheriff of King County and as a regent of the Territorial University.{{cite web |title=All Regents: 1861-Present |url=http://www.washington.edu/regents/officers/all-regents/ |publisher=University of Washington |accessdate=September 13, 2017}} He died in 1885 and was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle.