Lexington dates to 1820, and 15 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #56 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Lexington was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lexington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lexington is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #56 of 169 in South Carolina. Its age holds 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.
South Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Carolina town has 3.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lexington’s 9.8 sits near the middle of its state (65% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 24 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1820.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Lexington, building by building, 1894–1912
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
In 1735, the colonial government of King George II established 11 townships in backcountry South Carolina to encourage settlement and to provide a buffer between Native American tribes to the west and colonial plantations in the Lowcountry. The townships included one named Saxe Gotha, which flourished with major crops of corn, wheat, tobacco, hemp, and flax as well as beeswax and livestock, and its residents were primarily of German and Swiss heritage. Two major Native American trails existed in the area: the Cherokee Path, primary route of English and Scots traders from Charlestown to Native Americans in the Appalachian Mountains, and the Occaneechi Path, which connected natives from the Chesapeake Bay region to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
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.
In 1820, according to Wikidata. Lexington’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1880 counted 262 people here.
How does Lexington rank for history?
Lexington is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #56 of 169 in South Carolina. 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?
15 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Fox House (listed 1970, the first). 24 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lexington?
0.6% of Lexington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (15), Wikipedia, 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), 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.
1916
