Lexington is rich in tradition and history. Well-known explorer Daniel Boone established nearby Boonesboro, one of the first settlements in the state, in 1775. It helped pave the way for others to follow and settle an area known as McConnell Springs, Lexington’s birthplace. The settlers later named the area after the site of the opening battle of the Revolutionary War at Lexington, Massachusetts. Fayette County was named in honor of Marquis de Lafayette, France’s largest supporter of the American Revolution in 1780.

Once a part of Virginia, Lexington was granted 710 acres by the Virginia General Assembly in 1782. Ten years later, Virginia released Kentucky, and it assumed statehood, making Frankfort its state capital.

In 1812, Henry Clay, who is known as “The Great Compromiser,” built Ashland, a 400-acre estate. Lexington opened its first city school in 1834. When the 1890’s rolled around, tobacco replaced hemp as the major cash crop in the Bluegrass. By the early 1900’s, Lexington became the world’s largest burley tobacco market.

In 1924, William Monroe Wright, founder of Calumet Baking Powder, joined with a number of farms to form Calumet Farm, home of eight Kentucky Derby champion Thoroughbreds. Legendary Keeneland Race Course opened to huge crowds in 1936, while planes began taking off from nearby Blue Grass Airport in 1942.

In 1974, the city of Lexington and Fayette County merged, creating Kentucky’s only urban county government until recently, when Louisville merged its city and county governments.

HELPFUL LINKS:
Experience History in Lexington
Lexington Public Library
Lexington History Museum
Kentucky Historical Society