History · Lexington

Lexington has 173 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #50 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it

With 7% of its homes built before 1940 and 32 historic districts holding 5,078 contributing buildings. Most of Lexington was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1886 on and every listing on the Register.

173on the National Register

7%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

About Lexington’s history

How historic is Lexington?

B⁺

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

History grade

What drives Lexington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lexington is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #50 of 142 in Kentucky. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lexington’s overall grade.

Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19406.8% of homes (±0.4) · typical KY town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%C⁺National Register173 listings, 5,078 historic buildings, 157 per 10,000 residents · typical KY town 29.9 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%

NewerOlder

Kentucky towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 65%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Lexington ranks #163 on History.

Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lexington’s 157 sits above most of its state (77% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 5,078 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

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 National Historic Landmark173 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Ashland Park Historic District takes in 505 historic buildings.Lost villages22 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lexington, and 97 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lexington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

173 listings protect 5,078 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 3 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

173

National Historic Landmarks

Ashland

historic buildings protected

5,078

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

Ashland

BuildingsDistrictsSitesObjects★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival51

Federal35

Italianate25

Colonial Revival15

Victorian14

Queen Anne14

★ Landmark

AshlandBuilt 1811

★ Landmark

Old Morrison, Transylvania CollegeGreek Revival

★ Landmark

Keeneland-Keeneland RacetrackDistrict

Clay, Henry, Law OfficeBuilding

Mary Todd Lincoln HouseGeorgian Colonial

WavelandGreek Revival · Built 1957

Loudoun HouseGothic Revival

BotherumBuilding

All 174 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lexington’s post office has been open since 1794. 22 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lexington

1794–today

Cross Plains

1819–1826

Athens

1826–1909

Childsburgh

1826–1830

Donneraile

1826–1838

Yarnallton

1844–1917

Walnut Hill

1850–1901

Reform

1854–1857

Chilesburg

1863–1954

South Elkhorn

1871–1904

17901910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Ashland ParkAthensAvonBaraltoBeaumont ParkBlueberry HillBracktownBrigadoonBrightonBrookhavenBryan StationCadentownCardinal HillCardinal ValleyCentervilleChevy ChaseChilesburgClays FerryColetownColonyColumbusCrestwoodDeep SpringsDeerfield

Gone or out of use

Julia R Ewan Elementary SchoolschoolShelby Schoolschool

8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lexington

CalvaryCove HavenHighland MemorialHillcrest Memorial ParkHowards GroveLexington NationalLexington NationalThe Lexington

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

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.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 295,803 to 322,570 (+9%).

Timeline

Lexington, 1790 to 1986

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

18th century
1790BuiltAllen, James House is built
1794Post officeThe Lexington post office opens
19th century
1811BuiltAshland is built
1819Post officeThe Cross Plains post office opens
1826Post officeThe Cross Plains post office closes
1826Post officeThe Athens post office opens
1849BuiltLexington Cemetery and Henry Clay Monument is built
20th century
1909Post officeThe Athens post office closes
1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1957BuiltWaveland is built
1960LandmarkAshland named a National Historic Landmark
1965LandmarkOld Morrison, Transylvania College named a National Historic Landmark
1986LandmarkKeeneland-Keeneland Racetrack named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Lexington on the map, 1952 to 1993

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

1952Coletown sheet · 1:24,000

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

Every building

Lexington, building by building, 1886–1907

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Lexington fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 2

1886Sheet 2 of 23

Edition

Sheets

+22 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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

Questions about Lexington’s history

How does Lexington rank for history?

Lexington is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #50 of 142 in Kentucky. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Lexington?

173 listings, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks: 133 buildings, among them the Ashland (a National Historic Landmark since 1960), 32 historic districts with 3,235 contributing buildings, 5 sites, and 4 objects. 5,078 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Lexington?

7% of Lexington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1984.

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).

From the National Register of Historic Places (174), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Lexington has 173 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks

About Lexington’s history

How historic is Lexington?

What drives Lexington’s History grade

What stands out about Lexington’s past

173 listings protect 5,078 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lexington, in brief

Lexington, 1790 to 1986

No old photos in the archives yet

Lexington on the map, 1952 to 1993

Lexington, building by building, 1886–1907

Start Lexington’s collection

Questions about Lexington’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from