Lexington, MO
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lexington is a city in, and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of,
Lafayette County, Missouri Lafayette County is a County (United States), county in the western portion of Missouri, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 32,984. Its county seat is Lexington, Misso ...
, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2010 census. Lexington is in western Missouri, within the
Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
, approximately east of
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
. It is the home of the
Battle of Lexington State Historic Site The Battle of Lexington State Historic Site is a state-owned property located in the city of Lexington, Missouri. The site was established in 1958 to preserve the grounds where an American Civil War battle took place in 1861 between Confederate ...
, and of the former
Wentworth Military Academy and College Wentworth Military Academy and College was a private two-year military college and high school in Lexington, Missouri, one of six military junior colleges in the United States. The institution was founded in 1880 and closed in 2017. History ...
, which operated from 1880 to 2017.


Geography

Lexington is located on the south bank of the
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
at the intersection of
Missouri Route 13 Route 13 is a highway in Missouri which runs almost the entire north–south length of the state. Its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 69 (Missouri), U.S. Route 69/U.S. Route 136 (Missouri), 136 in Bethany, Missouri, Bethany. Its south ...
and
US Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 4,726 people, 1,867 households, and 1,201 families living in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 2,127 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.3%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6.1%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.5% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.7%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.2% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the population. There were 1,867 households, of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.7% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age in the city was 39.6 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.5% were from 25 to 44; 26.1% were from 45 to 64; and 17% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 4,453 people, 1,815 households, and 1,210 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,015 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.02%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6.04%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.18% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.06% from other races, and 1.17% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 2.18% of the population. There were 1,815 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.90. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,759, and the median income for a family was $39,583. Males had a median income of $31,672 versus $21,646 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $17,879. About 12.8% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.


History


Founding

Lexington is located on the bluffs of the
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
. It was platted in 1822 near William Jack's Ferry, which had been established three years earlier on the south bank of the river. It was named in commemoration of the
Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...
. The first ferry was established in 1819 by Lexington's founder, Gilead Rupe. In 1823, Lexington became the county seat of Lafayette County and grew rapidly.


Growth as a trading center

John Aull opened a mercantile store in 1822, and he was soon joined by his brothers James and Robert. The Aull Brothers firm soon had a frontier chain, also operating stores in
Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
, Westport and
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
. Other merchants came, as did farmers and planters who specialized in hemp, tobacco and cattle. With the emphasis on trade and agriculture, Lexington and Lafayette County also had one of the largest slave populations in the state. Many homes in town still have the old slave quarters behind them. Lexington was a bustling and prosperous city, the largest city west of
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
in the 1830s and 1840s. During that period, it was the major center for merchants and outfitters as trappers, traders, and emigrants prepared to travel westward on the
Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...
,
California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...
,
Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...
, and the
Mormon Trail The Mormon Trail is the route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) traveled from 1846 to 1869. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails Syst ...
to
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. Goods sent west from Lexington were valued at $450,000 in 1843. Rope walks, slaughter houses, a foundry and a furniture factory were among other early Lexington industries. In the 1840s,
Russell, Majors and Waddell The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was a stagecoach line that operated in the American West in the early 1860s, but it is most well known as the parent company of the Pony Express. It was formed as a subsidiary of the ...
, the largest trading firm in the West, established its headquarters on Main Street. In the 1850s, these three men had 3500 wagons carrying goods from
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
to
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
,
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, and other points, and in 1860, they would found the
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...
. The steamboat trade on the river became a hugely profitable investment, and the wharf was a center of commerce. Productive coal mines, among the first in the state, were dug into the surrounding river bluffs to provide fuel for river steamers. In 1852, one of the worst steamboat accidents in Missouri history occurred at Lexington. The side-wheeler '' Saluda'' was carrying 250 Mormons en route to
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
when its boilers exploded, killing over 150 people. Many children orphaned by the blast were adopted by Lexingtonians. In March 1856, the ''
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
'' steamboat was stopped and searched by pro-slavery
Border Ruffians Border ruffians were proslavery raiders who crossed into the Kansas Territory from Missouri during the mid-19th century to help ensure the territory entered the United States as a slave state. Their activities formed a major part of a series o ...
near Lexington, who confiscated 100 rifles and 2 cannons en route to the slavery-free
Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...
from the abolitionist Massachusetts Aid Society.


Architecture

Lexington has historical architecture, especially its public buildings. The
Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...
Lafayette County Courthouse, built in 1847 on Main Street, is the oldest courthouse in continuous use west of the Mississippi. The Masonic College, also built in the Greek Revival style, operated from 1847 to 1857, and after the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, it housed the Central College for Women. The
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
Christ Episcopal Church, built in 1848, has an interior finished in walnut and a ceiling ornamented with a Gothic truss arch. Lexington has over 150 homes and public buildings built before the Civil War, and annually holds well-attended tours of its historic homes and buildings. In addition to the Lafayette County Courthouse, the Anderson House and Lexington Battlefield, Minatree Catron House, John E. Cheatham House, Commercial Community Historic District,
Cumberland Presbyterian Church The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000 ...
, Theodore Gosewisch House,
Alexander and Elizabeth Aull Graves House Alexander and Elizabeth Aull Graves House was a historic home located at Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri. It was built about 1874, and is a two-story, Italianate style brick dwelling. It had a combination hipped and gable roof. It featur ...
, Hicklin Hearthstone, Hicklin School, Highland Avenue Historic District, House at 1413 Lafayette St., David John House, George Johnson House,
Linwood Lawn Linwood Lawn is a historic home located at Lexington, Missouri, Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri. It was built between 1850 and 1854, and is a two-story, rectangular, Italianate architecture, Italianate style brick dwelling. It measures 71 ...
, Old Neighborhoods Historic District, William P. Robinson House, Thomas Shelby House,
Spratt-Allen-Aull House Spratt-Allen-Aull House is a historic home located at Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri. It was built about 1840, and is a two-story, Greek Revival style red brick dwelling. It features a colossal pedimented tetrastyle portico with a full- ...
, Thomas Talbot and Rebecca Walton Smithers Stramcke House, D. W. B. and Julia Waddell Tevis House, Waddell House, and
Wentworth Military Academy Wentworth Military Academy and College was a private two-year military college and high school in Lexington, Missouri, one of six military junior colleges in the United States. The institution was founded in 1880 and closed in 2017. History ...
are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


Civil War and aftermath

Lexington had two of the largest battles in the western campaign of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. The better-known
Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...
is commonly referred to as the Battle of the Hemp Bales. On September 12, 1861, between 6,000 and 10,000 soldiers of the Missouri State Guard, led by Major General
Sterling Price Sterling Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was an American politician and military officer who was a senior General officers in the Confederate States Army, officer of the Confederate States Army, fighting in both the Weste ...
, began a siege against the Federal military post in the old Masonic College commanded by Colonel
James A. Mulligan James Adelbert Mulligan (June 30, 1830 – July 26, 1864) was Colonel (United States), colonel of the 23rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. On February 20, 1865, the United States Senate conf ...
. On September 18, Price's army mounted an assault. Some of Price's army used hemp bales as moving
breastworks A breastwork is a temporary fortification, often an earthwork thrown up to breast or shoulder height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position. A more permanent structure, normally in stone, would be described as ...
while they moved up the river bluffs and closed in on Mulligan's headquarters. On September 20, 1861, Mulligan's troops surrendered. Combined casualties were 73 dead, 270 wounded. The battlefield on the bluffs of the
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
is now a state park, and the cannonball stuck in one of the upper pillars of the Courthouse has become a symbol for the town. The Second
Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...
occurred during Price's Missouri Expedition on October 19, 1864. Lexington was known as a center for
Quantrill's Raiders Quantrill's Raiders were the best-known of the pro- Confederate partisan guerrillas (also known as " bushwhackers") who fought in the American Civil War. Their leader was William Quantrill and they included Jesse James and his brother Frank. ...
during the war. Two months after the Civil War ended, many of these guerrilla fighters who had refused to honor the cease fire finally decided to take advantage of the special Federal amnesty that was declared for such forces and turn themselves in at Lexington. While riding into town, reportedly under a white flag, they were fired upon by Union soldiers from the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, and
Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...
was severely wounded in the right lung. Some credit this event as a major contributing factor to his post-war career as a legendary bank robber. It is likely not a coincidence that the James-Younger Gang targeted the Alexander Mitchell bank in Lexington for the second daylight bank robbery in United States history. In December 1866,
Archie Clement Archie Clement (January 1, 1846 – December 13, 1866), also known as "Little Arch" or "Little Archie", was an American pro- Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War, known for his brutality towards Union soldiers and pro-Uni ...
, an accomplice of the James brothers and perhaps the most notorious of all the guerrilla fighters, terrorized the town and was shot from his horse and killed by a sniper perched in the second floor of the Courthouse.


Athens of the West

Lexington never returned to its pre-war prominence, succeeded by Kansas City as the most important city in western Missouri. Particularly harmful was arrival of the
transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...
, which supplanted the river commerce. Several institutions of higher education were established, leading the town to bill itself as the "Athens of the West". Especially significant were three schools for women, the Elizabeth Aull Seminary, Lexington Ladies College, and Central College for Women. Until its closing in 2017,
Wentworth Military Academy Wentworth Military Academy and College was a private two-year military college and high school in Lexington, Missouri, one of six military junior colleges in the United States. The institution was founded in 1880 and closed in 2017. History ...
, founded in 1880, drew students from throughout the country and around the world.


Lexington businesses

Until the 1980s, Lexington was the headquarters and main distribution point for Mattingly's and Matco Stores, which was purchased by
P.M. Place Stores P.M. Place Stores, also known as Place's Discount Stores was a Bethany, Missouri-based, employee-owned chain of discount stores in the United States. The company primarily operated in towns with a population of 1,500 to 4,000 people in Illinois, ...
. In 2000 the Place's stores were purchased by
ShopKo Shopko Stores, Inc. (stylized as SHOPKO, formerly stylized as ShopKo) was a chain of department stores based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. All locations closed on June 23, 2019, with the exception of the Shopko Optical locations, which continue to ope ...
to be converted into
Pamida Pamida was a chain of department stores with more than 175 locations in 16 Midwestern and West Central U.S. states. Founded by D.J. Witherspoon and Lee Wegener in 1963, Pamida stores were generally located in smaller, rural communities that range ...
stores. In 2004 the former Mattingly warehouse was sold by Pamida. In August 2004 liquidation of the former Matco #101, then a Pamida, began and the store was closed by the end of October. This was the end of the Mattingly store legacy in Lexington. Hugh Mattingly had been a mentor to Wal-Mart founder,
Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for Co-founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in Rogers, Arkansas, and Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1962 and 1983 res ...
. Dunbrooke began as a dress shirt company in 1939 in Lexington and became a nationwide logoed apparel manufacturer. Dunbrooke's signature jacket line began in the 1950s under government contract to produce nylon jackets for the Korean War. The company's name changed from "Dunhill" (1939) to "Dunbrooke Shirt Company" (1963) to "Dunbrooke Sportswear" (1971) to Dunbrooke Apparel Corp (2003). Dunbrooke was purchased from parent company American Marketing Industries (AMI) in October 2003.


Education

Lexington R-V School District, which covers the municipality, operates Lexington High School and Lex La-Ray Technical Center, a bi-county vocational school. Lexington has a
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
, a branch of the Trails Regional Library. Metropolitan Community College has the Lexington school district area in its service area, but not its in-district taxation area.


Notable people


Government

* Thomas Peter Akers,
congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...
, 1856–1857 * John P. Campbell Jr., lawyer, congressman, 1848–1852 * Thomas B. Catron, US senator * Mark L. De Motte, lawyer, editor of the ''Lexington Register'', congressman *
Alexander Graves Alexander Graves (August 25, 1844 – December 23, 1916) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri. Biography Born in Mount Carmel, Mississippi, Graves attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he join ...
, lawyer, congressman, 1883–1885 *
Josh Hawley Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member ...
, lawyer, Attorney General of Missouri, elected US senator in 2018 * Frank L. Houx, lawyer, governor of Wyoming *
John Telemachus Johnson John Telemachus Johnson (October 5, 1788 – December 17, 1856) was a minister in the Christian Church, an attorney, and a politician, elected as U.S. Representative from Kentucky. His older brothers, also politicians, included James Johnson and ...
, congressman * Atterson W. Rucker, lawyer, congressman * Samuel Locke Sawyer, Lawyer, congressman, 1879–1881 *
Ike Skelton Isaac Newton Skelton IV (December 20, 1931 – October 28, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for from 1977 to 2011. During his tenure, he served as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committ ...
, congressman, 1977–2011 * John Welborn, lawyer, congressman, 1905–1907


Business

* William Hepburn Russell, freighter, partner in
Russell, Majors and Waddell The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was a stagecoach line that operated in the American West in the early 1860s, but it is most well known as the parent company of the Pony Express. It was formed as a subsidiary of the ...
, founder of the
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...
* William C. Schwartz, physicist,
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...
pioneer, founder of International Laser Systems * William B. Waddell, freighter, partner in
Russell, Majors and Waddell The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was a stagecoach line that operated in the American West in the early 1860s, but it is most well known as the parent company of the Pony Express. It was formed as a subsidiary of the ...
, founder of the
Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...
* James "Bud" Walton, co-founder of
Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...


Athletics

* Chris Banks, NFL football player for 1998
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
champion
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
* Lenvil Elliott, NFL football player *
Med Park Medford R. "Med" Park (April 11, 1933 – July 23, 1998) was an American professional basketball player. Park grew up in Lexington, Missouri. Park attended Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington from 1947 to 1951 and was a star athlete. He the ...
, NBA basketball player *
Ron Tabb Ron Tabb (born August 7, 1954) is a retired male long-distance runner from the United States, who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the men's marathon. He won the 1981 edition of the Paris Marathon ex-æquo with England's Dave Cannon ...
, professional long distance runner


Military

*
Alexander William Doniphan Alexander William Doniphan (July 9, 1808 – August 8, 1887) was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church ...
, lawyer,
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
hero * William M. Hoge, oversaw construction of the ALCAN Highway and directed capture of the Remagen Bridge in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
*
Harold G. Schrier Harold George Schrier born " Harold George Schreier"(October 17, 1916 – June 3, 1971) was a United States Marine Corps Lieutenant colonel (United States), lieutenant colonel who served in World War II and the Korean War. In World War II, he was ...
, helped raise flag over
Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...


Arts and entertainment

* James Lane Allen, author * Maude Fulton, Broadway actress *
Randall Garrett Gordon Randall Phillip David GarrettGarrett, Randall
in ''
George Kriehn, writer and lecturer on art *
Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...
, composer and arranger for the
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...
and other
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
cartoons from the 1930s through the 1950s


Academia

* John H. Little, superintendent of
Wentworth Military Academy Wentworth Military Academy and College was a private two-year military college and high school in Lexington, Missouri, one of six military junior colleges in the United States. The institution was founded in 1880 and closed in 2017. History ...
, 2002–2007 * James M. Sellers, commandant, superintendent, and president of Wentworth Military Academy, 1920–1990 * James M. Sellers Jr., superintendent of Wentworth Military Academy, 1973–1990 * Ovid R. Sellers, Old Testament scholar and archaeologist *
Sandford Sellers Sandford Sellers (1854–1938) was the Principal, Superintendent and President of Wentworth Military Academy from 1880 to 1935. Sandford Sellers was born on July 24, 1854, near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky in Anderson County. He was the son of Dr. Jo ...
, president of Wentworth Military Academy, 1880–1938 * William W. Sellers, president of Wentworth Military Academy, 2008–2013 * Stephen G. Wentworth, banker, founder of Wentworth Military Academy * Lester B. Wikoff, athletic director, treasurer, and superintendent of Wentworth Military Academy, 1915–1971


Outlaws

* Hoodoo Brown, leader of the
Dodge City Gang The Dodge City Gang were a group of Kansas gunfighters and gamblers who dominated the political and economic life of Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1879 and early 1880. This came at a time when Las Vegas was booming and was thought to be the future met ...
in
Las Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas: West Las Vegas ("Old Town" ...
*
Archie Clement Archie Clement (January 1, 1846 – December 13, 1866), also known as "Little Arch" or "Little Archie", was an American pro- Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War, known for his brutality towards Union soldiers and pro-Uni ...
, notorious guerrilla outlaw, killed in Lexington in 1866 *
John Newman Edwards Major John Newman Edwards (January 4, 1839 – May 4, 1889) was General Joseph O. Shelby's adjutant during the American Civil War, an author, and a pro-Confederate journalist who founded the ''Kansas City Times''. He is perhaps best known ...
, publisher of the ''Lexington Expositor'', creator of the Jesse James legend *
Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...
, wounded while going to surrender in Lexington, 1865; committed second daylight bank robbery in Lexington, 1866


Religion

*
Judith Craig Judith Craig was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, whose primary field of service was the United States. She was born on June 5, 1937 in Lexington, Missouri and elected bishop in 1984. She died on January 18, 2019. Education She ...
,
bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of the
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
*
Thomas Francis Lillis Thomas Francis Lillis (March 3, 1861 – December 29, 1938) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Leavenworth in Kansas (1905–1910) and as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City in Missouri ...
, former
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
bishop


See also

* Lexington Historical Museum


References


Bibliography

* ''The Battle of Lexington, Fought in and About the City of Lexington, Missouri on September 18, 19 and 20th, 1861''. Lexington Historical Society. 1903. * ''Lexington'', Missouri Sesquicentennial Commemorative Book, 1972.


External links

*
Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce

Lexington Tourism Bureau

Lexington Economic Development Council
* Historic maps of Lexington in th
Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection
at the
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
{{authority control Cities in Lafayette County, Missouri County seats in Missouri Populated places established in 1822 Missouri populated places on the Missouri River 1822 establishments in Missouri Cities in Missouri