|
Engraving of the City of Lexington, as seen from
Morrison Hall on the campus of Transylvania University, c1855 From
Ballou's Pictoral Drawing Room Companion, courtesy of the University of Kentucky's
Special Collections |
Lexington has a long and important history. Located in the heart
of the Bluegrass the city and its citizens have been involved in
world affairs politically, economically, and culturally. The history
of Lexington dates back more than two centuries and the founding
of the town is congruent with the founding of the nation. In 1775
William McConnell and his fellow frontiersman were camped on the
outskirts of the current city at what has since become known as
McConnell Springs. While encamped at this
location the pioneers received word of the "shots heard round the
world" and the first battle of the American Revolutionary War at
Lexington, Massachusetts. They then named the settlement in honor
of this monumental event. Lexington soon became one of the first
permanent settlements on the frontier. The town consisted of nothing
more than a stockade with the citizens' cabins within the walls.
The frontier, at this time, remained a dangerous place and early
settlers clashed with the indigenous American Indians. At the time
Kentucky was not yet a state but territory within the Commonwealth
of Virginia. In 1780 the Virginia General Assembly divided Kentucky
County into three separate entities including Fayette, Lincoln,
and Jefferson counties. Lexington was deemed the "capital"
of Fayette County. In April 1782 the town inhabitants officially
petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to become a town. At this
point Lexington was transformed from the rough, wild settlement
of years past into the community that would soon become known as
"the Athens of the West."
Many institutions, events, and people
contributed to Lexington being designated the "Athens of the West" in the poem:
"But Lexington will ever be, The Loveliest and the Best; A Paradise thou'rt
still to me, Sweet Athens of the West." Josiah Espy upon his visit
to Lexington in 1806 described the city in the following way attesting to its
splendor as a frontier settlement:
"Lexington is the largest and most wealthy town in Kentucky,
or indeed west of the Allegheny Mountains; the main street of
Lexington has all the appearance of Market Street in Philadelphia
on a busy day ... I would suppose it contains about five hundred
dwelling houses [it was closer to three hundred], many of them
elegant and three stories high. About thirty brick buildings
were then raising, and I have little doubt but that in a few
years it will rival, not only in wealth, but in population,
the most populous inland town of the United States . . . The
country around Lexington for many miles in every direction,
is equal in beauty and fertility to anything the imagination
can paint and is already in a high state of cultivation."
Epsy in his observations was correct in predicting the future
of Lexington. The city would grow to a town of considerable size.
Old Morrison, built in 1834, located on the campus
of Transylvania College Photograph by Eric Thomason, courtesy of the
Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation |
|
Lexington experienced many notable occurrences in the period 1800
to 1833 during which time it became an intellectual and religious
center. The first institute of higher learning west of the Alleghenies
was established in nearby Danville in 1780 and moved to Lexington
in 1789. Transylvania University has remained
in Lexington since 1789 and is prominently known as "The Tutor to
the West." John Bradford, an early Lexingtonian, published the first
newspaper of the West in Lexington. The first
library in Kentucky was founded here in 1795. Many religious
organizations were founded in Lexington that became firsts for the
state and in some cases the west. Christ Church
Episcopal was founded in 1796 and was the first Episcopal congregation
west of the Allegheny Mountains. Walnut Hill Presbyterian
Church is the oldest Presbyterian Church building in Kentucky,
built in 1801. Another important congregation in Lexington is the
First African Baptist Church. This congregation
was founded in 1790 and is the third oldest Baptist congregation
of African Americans in the United States and the oldest in Kentucky.
Lexington has also served as a major economic center throughout
its 225-year history. During the early 19th century, Lexington
was a major manufacturing center. Most of this manufacturing centered
on hemp production. The hemp was grown on area farms and then
manufactured into rope on the many "rope walks" or rope factories
within the city limits. John Wesley Hunt an area businessman made
his fortune in the hemp and mercantile business, making him the
first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains. With this fortune
he constructed his mansion, Hopemont (the Hunt-Morgan
House). Lexington also became an important trade center because
of its central location to numerous smaller towns whose citizens
traveled to the city for imported goods. During the 20th century
much of the money from the Eastern Kentucky coal industry passed
through Lexington and helped foster further growth. The Downtown
and the North Limestone commercial districts
are living testaments to the city's importance as a trading center.
|
Daguerreotype image of Henry
Clay, famous Lexington political figure, c1850
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs
Division, [cph 3c09953r] |
Politically, Lexington has been actively involved in affairs of
the nation. Henry Clay, United States Senator and three time presidential
candidate began his political career in a small
office on Mill Street and resided at his mansion, Ashland,
when not in Washington on business. Furthermore, Mary
Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, spent her childhood
years in Lexington and grew up in the house of her father on West
Main Street. John Cabell Breckinridge, vice president under President
James Buchanan also hailed from Lexington and a monument honors
him on the courthouse lawn. During the Civil War Lexington was controlled
by both Union and Confederate factions. The Union forces used the
campus of Transylvania University and were headquartered at the
Bodley-Bullock House while the Confederate
sympathizers used the neighboring Hunt-Morgan House.
Lexington continues to be of great importance as the second
largest city in the state of Kentucky and the "Horse Capital of
the World." Every year thousands flock to Keeneland
to view the annual horse races and to purchase thoroughbreds at
its annual horse sales. During the 20th century the city has seen
rapid growth and the city limits continue to grow. This rapid
growth began around the turn of the the century and many early
20th-century residential neighborhoods, such as the Ashland
Park Historic District and the Bell Court
Historic Neighborhood District , were built to accommodate
this population growth. As we enter the 21st century, Lexington's
future continues to looks bright.
|