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History · Lexington

Lexington dates to 1813, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Lexington House, the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower and the St. Francis DeSales Church. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1820.

1813founded
3on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lexington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lexington began

When was Lexington founded?

1813

Lexington dates its founding to 1813 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,798 in 18202020 census: 770213 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓

What stands out about Lexington’s past

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

On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1980. Watch Lexington change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,813 in 1840; 770 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Lexington, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1813: 213 years of Lexington.
★ What stands out · On the map

Lexington on the map, 1900 to 1980

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 1900 USGS mapLexington on the 1946 USGS mapLexington on the 1960 USGS mapLexington on the 1980 USGS map1900Phoenicia 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.

People over time

Lexington, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001850190019502000Peak: 2,813

Peaked at 2,813 in 1840; 770 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lexington’s Wikipedia 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 1815. Another post office, Spruceton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lexington
1815–today
West Kill
1833–today
Spruceton
1879–1957
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mosquito PointNorth LexingtonSprucetonWest Kill
Gone or out of use
Broadstreet SchoolschoolFalke's QuarrymineSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 6school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lexington
DeyoLexingtonParkerSchermerhornSpruceton Methodist ChurchWest Kill Methodist ChurchWestkill Community

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

The story

How Lexington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lexington.

Read it all →

The area was first settled circa 1788. The town of Lexington was established in 1813, as the "Town of New Goshen", from the town of Windham. Within a few months, the name was altered to "Lexington".

In 1976, playwright Oakley Hall III co-founded Lexington Conservatory Theatre at historic Lexington House. The company performed there for five years before moving to Albany, NY to become Capital Repertory Theatre. Lexington House was later used as a summer retreat by Ensemble Studio Theatre. The location was also featured in the 2004 documentary The Loss of Nameless Things.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Lexington, 1903–1913

Passages that mention Lexington, cut from the printed page as they were published.

southerly side of Francis Whitmore's house, towards the town of Cambridge." The same description was used when the precinct was erected into a town in 1713, and the above line remains still the boundary between Lexington and Arlington. Francis Whitmore, however, did not reside in this house at the …
History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 18681913 · page 750Read the page →
Read the text

southerly side of Francis Whitmore's house, towards the town of Cambridge." The same description was used when the precinct was erected into a town in 1713, and the above line remains still the boundary between Lexington and Arlington. Francis Whitmore, however, did not reside in this house at the date of the incorporation of the town, as he had then been dead for several years. It is believed also that he never lived there, although he owned the house, which was probably occupied then or later by

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He lived successively in Lexington, Watertown, Lexington and Lincoln; this was partly on account of his changing his reisdence, and partly from alterations of town lines, which annexed a part of Lexington to Lincoln. When he became an inhabitant of Lexington is not knoAvn, but he was taxed in 1729 …
History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 18681913 · page 303Read the page →
Read the text

He lived successively in Lexington, Watertown, Lexington and Lincoln; this was partly on account of his changing his reisdence, and partly from alterations of town lines, which annexed a part of Lexington to Lincoln. When he became an inhabitant of Lexington is not knoAvn, but he was taxed in 1729 and had a seat assigned him in the meeting-house in 1731. He was chosen one of the committee to provide for schools in 1743, and also filled the office of constable, assessor and selectman.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cambridge Farms was a portion of Cambridge. Lexington was then included in it, and this part of the town appears to have been regarded as the wood-lots and hay fields of Cambridge. Lexington was set aside and was organized into a town March 31, 1713, a few years after Jonathan Robinson settled ther…
A historical sketch of the Robinson family of the line of Ebenezer Robinson, a soldier of the revolution. Born at Lexington, Mass., Feb. 14th, 1765. Died at South Reading, Vt., Oct. 31, 18571903 · page 32Read the page →
Read the text

Cambridge Farms was a portion of Cambridge. Lexington was then included in it, and this part of the town appears to have been regarded as the wood-lots and hay fields of Cambridge. Lexington was set aside and was organized into a town March 31, 1713, a few years after Jonathan Robinson settled there.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Lexington, 1813 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1813
    FoundingLexington is established
  3. 1815Post officeThe Lexington post office opens
  4. 1833Post officeThe West Kill post office opens
  5. 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 2,813
  6. 1879Post officeThe Spruceton post office opens
  7. 1883BuiltLexington House is built
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1957Post officeThe Spruceton post office closes
  11. 1976In the archiveLexington House (1883), Route 42
By decade

Lexington, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s6 items
Lexington House (1883), Route 421976Lexington House (1883), Route 42O'Hara House, Route 23A East of Lexington, NY1976O'Hara House, Route 23A East of Lexington, NYO'Hara House, Route 23A East of Lexington, NY1976O'Hara House, Route 23A East of Lexington, NYO'Hara House, Route 23A1976O'Hara House, Route 23AO'Hara House, Route 23A1976O'Hara House, Route 23AO'Hara House, Route 23A1976O'Hara House, Route 23A
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today12 recent
Diamond Notch Falls in summer2017Diamond Notch Falls in summerView east along Diamond Notch Trail, Spruceton, NY2016View east along Diamond Notch Trail, Spruceton, NYSt Francis DeSales Church 5-14-20162016St Francis DeSales Church 5-14-2016Rusk Mountain from Buck Ridge Lookout on West Kill Mountain, Spruceton, NY2016Rusk Mountain from Buck Ridge Lookout on West Kill Mo…Rushing water in West Kill below Diamond Notch Falls, Spruceton, NY2016Rushing water in West Kill below Diamond Notch Falls,…Mount Sherrill from Spruceton Road, West Kill, NY2016Mount Sherrill from Spruceton Road, West Kill, NYDiamond Notch Trail in autumn, Spruceton, NY2016Diamond Notch Trail in autumn, Spruceton, NYDiamond Notch Falls footbridge, Spruceton, NY2016Diamond Notch Falls footbridge, Spruceton, NYDelaware-Greene-Ulster tri-county point on Halcott Mountain south ridge, NY2016Delaware-Greene-Ulster tri-county point on Halcott Mo…Rusk Mountain Summit2012Rusk Mountain SummitLexington (New York)2010Lexington (New York)View from Bearpen Mountain, facing north2009View from Bearpen Mountain, facing north
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lexington House (1883), Route 42
Retake this viewLexington House (1883), Route 42, 1976

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lexington’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Lexington

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Lexington House
Lexington House, built 1883Hunter Mountain Fire TowerSt. Francis DeSales Church
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Late Gothic1
Lexington HouseItalianate · Built 1883
Hunter Mountain Fire TowerStructure
St. Francis DeSales ChurchLate Gothic

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

Help out

Finish Lexington’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLexington House (1883), Route 42: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Jewett1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAshland4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHunter16 historic placesA+Halcott1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShandaken9 historic placesA+Prattsville7 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lexington’s history

What year was Lexington founded?

In 1813, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lexington’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1820 counted 1,798 people here.

What is on the National Register in Lexington?

Three places: the Lexington House (listed 1986), the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower (1997) and the St. Francis DeSales Church (1999).

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.