Most of East Lexington was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listings are the Tankersley Tavern and the Clifton. Below: maps from 1937 on.
Founding year: the first East Lexington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives East Lexington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Lexington is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Lexington’s overall grade.
Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so East Lexington’s 48.4 sits above most of its state (65% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 East Lexington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of East Lexington yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
East Lexington is a census-designated place in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, East Lexington had a population of 1,824.
Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,463 to 1,824 (+25%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
East Lexington, 1893 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of East Lexington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1937Lexington 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 East Lexington.
On the National Register
2 historic places in East Lexington
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The East Lexington post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does East Lexington rank for history?
East Lexington is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns. 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 East Lexington?
Two places: the Tankersley Tavern (listed 1988) and the Clifton (1994).
How old are the homes in East Lexington?
0.0% of East Lexington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
