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History · Lexington

Lexington’s post office opened in 1832

Most of Lexington was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1880.

1832first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Lexington began

When was Lexington founded?

1832

The Lexington post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 72 in 18802020 census: 727194 years
Founding year: the first Lexington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lexington’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lexington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19164 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1972. Watch Lexington change.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Lexington.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lexington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lexington’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lexington on the map, 1916 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lexington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lexington on the 1916 USGS mapLexington on the 1936 USGS mapLexington on the 1952 USGS mapLexington on the 1972 USGS map1916Rogersville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lexington.

Timeline

Lexington, 1832 to 1945

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832Post officeThe Lexington post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1936Born hereBill Jones is born here
  6. 1945Born hereFrank Nunley is born here
The story so far

Lexington, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lexington yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lexington is a town in Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence–Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals". It incorporated in 1959. As of the 2020 census, Lexington had a population of 727.

Its first post office opened in 1832. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 735 in 2010, 727 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Lexington, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Lexington-water-tower-al12016Lexington-water-tower-al1Lexington-view-from-fd-al12016Lexington-view-from-fd-al1Lexington-post-office-al12016Lexington-post-office-al1Lexington-park-al12016Lexington-park-al1Lexington-buildings-al12016Lexington-buildings-al1Lexington-Town-Hall-al12016Lexington-Town-Hall-al1Lexington-Hwy101-al22016Lexington-Hwy101-al2Lexington-Hwy101-al12016Lexington-Hwy101-al1Lexington-Cemetery-al12016Lexington-Cemetery-al1Lexington-CO71-al12016Lexington-CO71-al1Burchell-Campbell-Memorial-Library-al12016Burchell-Campbell-Memorial-Library-al1
People over time

Lexington, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 884

Between 72 and 884 people in every census since 1880.

8 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lexington’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Lexington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
F
Frank NunleyAmerican football player · b. 1945
B
Bill JonesAmerican basketball head coach and athletic dir… · b. 1936
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Lexington’s post office has been open since 1832.

Gone or out of use
Nebo SchoolschoolPortertown Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Lexington
Moore

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lexington’s history

What year was Lexington founded?

The Lexington post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.