Lexington

Founded in 1775 as the gateway to the American settlement of the West, for centuries Lexington was the location of the intersection of the east-west and north-south bison traces that became today’s Interstates 64 and 75.  As the American Indians followed the bison, so too did the European American pioneers, explorers and settlers follow the same traces.

Early on, Lexington became a settlement of shopkeepers and traders providing goods to settlers as they came across the Appalachian Mountains through Cumberland Gap or down the Ohio River through Maysville, Kentucky, then called Limestone.  Among the city’s founders is counted Col. Robert Patterson, who also established Dayton, Ohio, and whose descendants founded the National Cash Register Co. and Levi Todd, grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln.  Abraham Lincoln’s uncle operated a whiskey still just south of the settlement.

As Lexington grew, it became known as the Athens of the West, a center of learning, culture and commerce on the Western frontier.  Transylvania University, founded as the first college west of the Alleghenies, once rivaled Harvard and Princeton.  Transylvania educated some of the nation’s future leaders: Texas founder Stephen Austin, abolitionist Cassius Clay, U.S. Vice Presidents John Breckinridge and Richard Johnson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan and Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Lexington is not located on a navigable waterway.  It is the largest inland city not founded on a major river, and its commercial prominence declined by mid-19th century, but its agricultural base thrived.  Lexington was a major market for hemp, tobacco and cattle, but its best known product is the horse.  Following World War II, Lexington once again arose as a commercial center.  At the crossroads of major east-west and north-south railroads, and later the interstates, Lexington was superbly attractive to such national manufacturers as IBM, Dixie Cup and Square D.  In the 1980s, Toyota Motor Manufacturing and Lexmark would become major economic drivers in the region.

Lexington is a community committed to preserving our unique cultural heritage.  Through the efforts of dedicated individuals and organizations such as the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, many historic treasures have been preserved and are open to the public.  The old Fayette County Courthouse (home to the Lexington History Center), the Mary Todd Lincoln House, Waveland, the Hunt-Morgan House, the Henry Clay Estate and many others stand as witnesses to our city's past. 

From the 18th century, noted horsemen such as Henry Clay realized that horses bred and trained in the region were stronger and faster than those from any other areas.  This is because the geology of the Bluegrass Region is unique to the world.  Once the floor of the largest sea on earth, the region’s underlying limestone is rich in calcium deposits.  These deposits infuse the natural springs and creeks that feed the rich grasslands.  Horses raised in the region mature faster, have stronger bones and are more successful on the track or in the show ring.  Lexington’s Keeneland Race Course is among the world’s top racing and sales venues.  With Red Mile Harness Track, the Kentucky Horse Park, the Thoroughbred Center and more than 450 horse farms in the area, it's no wonder Lexington is known as the Horse Capital of the World.

It is the lush, rolling countryside that remains Lexington's best known national image.  Miles and miles of scenic byways lined with stone and plank fences radiate from the city, offering visitors an endless variety of farmland vistas.  Buttressed by the city's unique Purchase of Development Rights program, designed to protect Lexington’s historic landscape and scenic byways, these vistas will continue to be enjoyed by visitors for generations to come.