History

TIMELINE

• 1821 – 1st of 4 courthouses in Town, constructed of wood, was built on the northwest corner of Main Street and North Lake Drive.
• 1822 – Village was composed of the frame courthouse, the jail, 2 stores, a tavern, a blacksmith shop and 3 dwellings.
• 1831 – St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church was constructed as the Town’s 1st church.
• 1838 – 2nd courthouse and jail constructed of granite covered with stucco.
• 1853 – Town’s 1st newspapers, The Lexington Telegraph and The Lexington Flag were established. The Lexington Flag continued until burned in 1865.
• January 28, 1861 – A Municipal Charter was issued to the Town.
• February 15, 1865 – Town burned by Federal troops under Major General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick.
• 1870 – The Lexington Dispatch newspaper was founded by Godfrey M. Harmon.
• 1890 – Lexington Manufacturing Company was organized as a textile mill with W.P. Roof as president. Mr. Roof established Lexington Savings Bank, the Town’s 1st bank.
• 1898 – Telephones arrived with the formation of the Citizens Telephone Company .
• 1901 – Town business’ included 3 drug stores, 1 grocery, 2 hotels, 3 hardware stores, 3 dry goods stores, 3 general merchandise stores, 1 furniture store, a millinery shop, a livery stable, a bank, a State whiskey dispensary, 2 physicians, 1 dentist. A Town well stood at the intersection of Main and Church Streets. At the train depot (on Highway #6 at the railroad tracks) were 2 general stores, 2 fertilizer warehouses, a cotton warehouse and passenger/freight building.
• 1911 – Electricity for lighting was made available.
• 1912 – Lexington Public School (on North Lake Drive) opened.
• 1916 – On March 28th fire destroyed all but 4 buildings in the Town’s business district.
• 1927 – Municipal water system began operation.
• 1928 – U.S. Highway #1 was paved through town.
• 1930 – Lake Murray Dam reservoir project was completed.
• 1938 – The Old Town Hall, with its fire bell and old jail, was torn down.
• 1940 – Present courthouse dedicated after 1939 completion.
• 1973 – The 1st female Town Council Member, Maureen Macaulay, was elected.
• 1976 – The Council form of government was adopted under the Home Rule Act.
• April 30, 1993 – The new Lexington Town Hall on Maiden Lane was opened.
• September 12, 1993 – Virginia Hylton Park was dedicated.
• August 16, 1994 – A tornado tore a path through downtown Lexington.
• 1997 – On February 11, Richard Thompson became the first African-American elected to the Town Council.
• April 6, 2003 – The new Police Headquarters on Maiden Lane opened.
• October 17, 2004 – The new Lexington Municipal Complex at 111 Maiden Lane was dedicated.
• July 22, 2007 – Gibson Pond Park was officially opened.
• May 15, 2008 – The restored Palmetto Collegiate Institute and the Leonard L. Price Gardens surrounding it were officially opened.
• June 14, 2009 – Willie B. Caractor Park was officially opened.
• September 2012 – Lexington Square at the corner of East Main Street and South Lake Drive opened.
• April 13, 2014 – Lexington Paw Park was officially opened.
• September 30, 2014 – The 14 Mile Creek Trail was officially opened.
• October 2015 – The Town was devastated by historic floods which destroyed the dams at the Old Mill Pond and Gibson Pond Park.
• 2043 – On January 15, the 50 year old time capsule placed in the Town Hall at 111 Maiden Lane will be opened.