John Thomas Towers (1811–1857) was Superintendent of Printing at the U.S. Capitol and the sixteenth Mayor of Washington City, District of Columbia, from 1854 to 1856.

[1] In 1849, President Zachary Taylor appointed Towers to be one of the three Inspectors of the Penitentiary of the District of Columbia.

Banking on his strength as a member of city government and his reputation as a printer, the Know-Nothings put Towers up for mayor against incumbent Democrat John Walker Maury in 1854.

[3] The Know Nothings peaked all across America that year, electing mayors in most of its most important cities.

[4] Towers' accomplishment was largely limited to developing plans for an infirmary and workhouse on the Marine reservation in Southeast Washington.