William Cotter Baker (March 15, 1858 – 1931) was a lawyer and 20th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.

[4][3][2] For two years he taught languages at Deveaux College in what was then the town of Suspension Bridge (now part of Niagara Falls, New York).

[4] In that same year he was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar and practiced law in Providence.

[5] While there, Baker published, together with his wife, a 60-page book of poems called "The Town where I was Born: Stories of Old Wickford.

He ran as a Democrat on a good government reform platform, characterized by the Providence Journal as being "in opposition to the corporations.