Lexington is a suburban town in
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populou ...
, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. The population was 34,454 as of the
2020 census.
The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was first settled by Europeans as a farming community. Lexington is well known as the site of the first shots of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, in the
Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, where the "
Shot heard 'round the world" took place. It is home to
Minute Man National Historical Park
Minute Man National Historical Park commemorates the opening battle in the American Revolutionary War. It also includes the Wayside, home in turn to three noted American authors. The National Historical Park is under the jurisdiction of the N ...
.
History
Indigenous history
Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Lexington for thousands of years prior to
European colonization of the Americas
During the Age of Discovery, a large scale colonization of the Americas, involving a number of European countries, took place primarily between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. The Norse explored and colonized areas of Europe a ...
, as attested by a woodland era archaeological site near Loring Hill south of the town center.
At the time of European contact, the area may have been a border region between
Naumkeag or Pawtucket to the northeast,
Massachusett
The Massachusett are a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...
to the south, and
Nipmuc
The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian languages, Eastern Algonquian language, probably the Loup language. Their historic territory Nippenet, meaning 'the f ...
to the west, though the land was eventually purchased from the Naumkeag.
The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in
virgin soil epidemic
In epidemiology, a virgin soil epidemic is an epidemic in which populations that previously were in isolation from a pathogen are immunologically unprepared upon contact with the novel pathogen. Virgin soil epidemics have occurred with European ...
s, leaving the area largely uncontested upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in the
Puritan Great Migration. In 1639, the
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...
purchased the land that would become present-day Lexington, then within the boundaries of
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, from the
Naumkeag Squaw Sachem of Mistick
Squaw Sachem of Mistick (-1650 or 1667) a. k. a. "Massachusetts Queene" was a prominent leader of a Massachusett tribe who deeded large tracts of land in eastern Massachusetts to early colonial settlers.
Squaw Sachem was the widow of Nanepashemet, ...
.
Colonial history
The area that is now Lexington was first settled
[Tracing the Past in Lexington, Massachusetts. Edwin B. Worthen.] as part of
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
.
As the population increased, Lexington was incorporated as a separate parish, called Cambridge Farms, in 1691. This allowed the residents to have their own local church and minister, although they were still under jurisdiction of the Town of Cambridge. Lexington was incorporated as a separate town in 1713. It was then that it got the name Lexington. How the town received its name is the subject of some controversy. One view is that it was named in honor of
Lord Lexington, an English
peer. Another view is that it was named after Lexington (which was pronounced and is today spelled
Laxton) in
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
In the early colonial days,
Vine Brook, which runs through Lexington,
Burlington, and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
, and then empties into the
Shawsheen River, was a focal point of the farming and industry of the town. It provided water for many types of mills, and in the 20th century, for farm irrigation.
Battle of Lexington
On April 19, 1775, what many regard as the first battle of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
,
the Battle at Lexington, took place. On the night of April 18, the British Army sent out 800 grenadiers and light infantry soldiers on foot from
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, with the intention of destroying Colonial gunpowder and cannons that were being stored in
Concord, as well as capturing two leaders of the
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It p ...
,
John Hancock
John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...
and
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams (, 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, Political philosophy, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts, a le ...
, who were staying in Lexington. Hancock and Adams were warned of the danger by two alarm riders,
Paul Revere
Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...
and
William Dawes, who alerted the countryside of the British military movements. When the British arrived on the
Lexington Common not long after sunrise, they faced 77 men of the Lexington militia, commanded by
Captain John Parker. Someone — still unknown to this day — fired a shot, provoking an exchange of musket fire between the two sides. Eight Lexington militia men were killed, dozens more wounded. After the rout, the British marched on toward Concord. There, several hundred militia and minute men from nearby towns assembled near the
Old North Bridge to turn back the British and prevent them from capturing and destroying the Colony's stores of gunpowder and military equipment.
Today, the town annually commemorates the battle on the Battle Green in downtown with
Patriots' Day festivities including reenactments, historic house tours, concerts, various ceremonies, and a parade.
Urbanization
For decades after the Revolutionary War, Lexington grew modestly while remaining largely a farming community, providing Boston with much of its produce. Many of these farms became dense housing developments and subdivisions by the 1970s. One notable housing development was the
Peacock Farm residential neighborhood. It was designed by architect
Walter Pierce and was built between 1952 and 1958. As of 2012, the neighborhood was 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 ...
. Lexington always had a bustling downtown area, which remains to this day. Lexington began to prosper, helped by its proximity to Boston, and having a rail line (originally the
Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad, later the
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a United States, U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It was chartered in 1835, and became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022).
At the e ...
) service its citizens and businesses, beginning in 1846 until 1981. In 1984, Due to the rapid urbanization that occurred in many other suburbs like Lexington, The
MBTA proposed expanding the
Red Line through Lexington, terminating in Bedford. Despite Lexington and Bedford being on board with the idea, Arlington residents lobbied against the plan and it was shot down by the Board of Selectmen.
Lexington, as well as many of the towns along the
Route 128 corridor, experienced a jump in population in the 1960s and 1970s, due to the high-tech boom. In the 21st Century, major companies such as
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
The is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company. It is the third largest pharmaceutical company in Asia, behind Sinopharm and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, and one of the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue (t ...
and
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
have operations within the city limits. The urbanization and massive job growth resulted in soaring property values, and the school system becoming nationally recognized for its excellence. The town participates in the
METCO program, which buses minority students from Boston to suburban towns to receive better educational opportunities than those available to them in the Boston Public Schools.
Lexington was the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
location of the USAF "
Experimental SAGE Subsector
The Experimental Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Sector (ESS, Experimental SAGE Subsector until planned Sectors/Subsectors were renamed NORAD Regions, Divisions, and Sectors) was a prototype Cold War Air Defense Sector for developing the ...
" for testing
a prototype IBM computer that arrived in July 1955 for development of
a computerized "national air defense network" (the namesake "
Lexington Discrimination System" for incoming ICBM warheads was developed in the late 1960s).
Geography
Lexington is located at (42.444345, −71.226928).
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 town has a total area of 16.5 square miles (42.8 km
2), of which 16.4 square miles (42.5 km
2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km
2), or 0.85%, is water.
Lexington is bordered by
Burlington,
Woburn,
Winchester
Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
,
Arlington,
Belmont,
Waltham,
Lincoln, and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
. It has more area than all other municipalities that it borders.
Demographics
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 had been 31,394 people, 11,530 households, and 8,807 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 12,019 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 68.6%
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 ...
, 25.4%
Asian (15.4%
Chinese, 4.8%
Asian Indian, 3.2%
Korean), 1.5%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
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 ...
, 0.1%
Native American, 0.0%
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 ...
, 0.5% from
other races, and 2.6% 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 2.3% of the population.
There were 11,530 households, out of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% 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, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. Of all households, 20.8% were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.
In 2018, the mean home price was $910,584, and the median price of a house was $1,050,821. According to a 2018 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $191,350, and the median income for a family was $218,890. Males had a median income of $101,334 versus $77,923 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 town was $70,132. About 1.8% of families and 3.4% 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 3.2% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.
By race, the median household income was highest for mixed race households, at $263,321. Hispanic households had a median income of $233,875. Asian households had a median income of $178,988. White households had a median income of $154,533. Black households had a median income of $139,398. American Indian or Alaskan Native households had a median income of $125,139.
Immigrant population

As of 2022, Lexington had the highest Asian population in Massachusetts, reflecting 32% of the population. Thirty-three percent of Lexington residents were born outside of the United States. This racial diversity is largely reflected in the Lexington Public Schools, where Asians compose over 45% of the student population.
Transportation
MBTA bus operates three routes that connect with the
Red Line at
Alewife station in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
. The city of Lexington operates three weekday bus routes via its own Lexpress service, with their inbound terminus being
Depot Square.
Government and politics
The town uses a five-member Select Board. The day-to-day operations are handled by a
Town Manager hired by the Select Board. A
Representative town meeting
A representative town meeting, also called "limited town meeting", is a form of municipal legislature particularly common in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and permitted in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Representative town meetings function ...
, acts as the legislative body, made up of 203 members, including 21 citizens elected from each of nine precincts for three-year staggered terms, and it meets at least once a year. At-large member positions include the Select Board, Town Counsel, Town Clerk and the School Committee chairman. Article LXXXIX Section 8 of the Massachusetts Constitution permits towns with a population greater than 12,000 to adopt a city form of government. The Town of Lexington meets the population requirement to become a city, but has not done so, in part because it would lose its ability to engage citizens in local government under the Representative Town Meeting form of government.
Lexington is Represented by State Representative
Michelle Ciccolo, State Senators
Cindy Friedman and
Michael Barrett, all Democrats. Lexington is in
Massachusetts's 5th congressional district
Massachusetts's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in eastern Massachusetts. The district is represented by Katherine Clark of the Democratic Party. Massachusetts's congressional redistricting after the 2010 census changed ...
, currently represented by
Katherine Clark. Federally, Lexington is heavily Democratic, having not voted Republican since
1980. Even in
Scott Brown's upset
2010 Senate special election, he received just 34% of the vote, to
Coakley's 64%.
Emergency services
Law enforcement
The Lexington Police Department (LPD) is responsible for law enforcement in the town of Lexington, handling investigations, patrol, and traffic safety/control, with 51 sworn officers. They also host a youth academy for children aged 12–17 as well as a Police Explorers Program (For high school students interested in the comprehensive learning of Law Enforcement). It is led by Chief of Police Michael McLean.
Fire and rescue
The Lexington Fire Department (LFD) provides both fire and rescue, and emergency medical services to the town of Lexington. The date of its formation is unknown. It is based in the Fire Department Headquarters, with a secondary East Lexington Station, having 61 firefighters and EMS personnel. It is led by Fire Chief Derek Sencabaugh.
Education
Public schools
Lexington's
public education
A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...
system includes six
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
s, two
middle school
Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school.
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...
s, and one
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
. Students may attend
Minuteman Regional High School as an alternative to the local
Lexington High School. In 2012, 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024, Lexington High School won the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
National Science Bowl competition. In 2019 and 2021,
Jonas Clarke Middle School won the
National Middle School Science Bowl competition.
Elementary Schools
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
*
Joseph Estabrook Elementary School
*
Fiske Elementary School
*
Maria Hastings Elementary School
*
Bridge Elementary School
*
Bowman Elementary School
*
Harrington Elementary School
Middle Schools
*
William Diamond Middle School
*
Jonas Clarke Middle School
High Schools
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
*
Lexington High School
*
Minuteman Regional High School
Private schools
*
Lexington Christian Academy
* Lexington Montessori School
*
The Waldorf School of Lexington
Supplementary education
*The Lexington Chinese School (LCS; 勒星頓中文學校) holds its classes at
Belmont High School in
Belmont. In 2003 over 400 students attended classes at LCS, held on Sundays.
*
Shishu Bharati School of Languages and Culture of India
*AOPS Academy hosts a branch school in Lexington, teaching mathematics and language arts.
Culture and art
Music
Lexington is home to the Lexington Symphony, which performs regularly at Cary Hall.
Economy
Major employers in Lexington include
Takeda (formerly
Shire
Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
),
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
,
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense federally funded research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and dev ...
,
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, with production facilities in nine countries and affiliates or offices in five. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder Novo Holdings A/S ...
,
Agilent,
Global Insight
Global Insight is an economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics fo ...
,
CareOne, the
Cotting School,
Ipswitch, and
Lexington Public Schools.
Points of interest
*Lexington is most well known for its history and is home to many historic buildings, parks, and monuments, most dating from
Colonial and
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society.
Definition
The term—bot ...
times.
*One of the most prominent historical landmarks, located in
Lexington Centre, is the
Lexington Common, commonly known as the Lexington Battle Green, and known by locals as ''the Battle Green'' or ''the Green''. The Lexington Battle Green is known for being the site of the
Battle of Lexington, where the "
shot heard round the world" was fired. A statue of the captain of the Lexington Militia,
John Parker, stands on the Battle Green. The statue is known as the ''Minuteman Statue'' by locals. A historical reenactment of the Battle of Lexington takes place on the Battle Green every year on
Patriots' Day as part of the Patriots' Day celebrations.
*Another important historical monument is the Revolutionary Monument, the nation's oldest standing war memorial (completed on July 4, 1799) and the
gravesite of those colonists slain in the Battle of Lexington.
*Other landmarks of historical importance include the Old Burying Ground (with gravestones dating back to 1690), the
Old Belfry,
Buckman Tavern (–1710),
Munroe Tavern (), the
Hancock–Clarke House (1737), the U.S.S. Lexington Memorial, the Centre Depot (old
Boston and Maine
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...
train station
A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...
, today the headquarters of the town Historical Society),
Follen Church (the oldest standing church building in Lexington, built in 1839), and the Mulliken White Oak (one of Lexington's most distinguished and oldest trees).
*Lexington is also home, along with neighboring
Lincoln and nearby
Concord to the
Minute Man National Historical Park
Minute Man National Historical Park commemorates the opening battle in the American Revolutionary War. It also includes the Wayside, home in turn to three noted American authors. The National Historical Park is under the jurisdiction of the N ...
.
*The
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library showcases exhibits on
American history
The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...
and
Freemasonry
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
.
*Lexington's
town center is home to numerous
dining
A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in a ...
opportunities, fine
art galleries
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...
, retail
shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...
, a small
cinema, the
Cary Memorial Library
__NOTOC__
The Cary Memorial Library (est.1869) is the main branch of the public library in Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown B ...
, the
Minuteman Bikeway, Depot Square, and many of the aforementioned historical landmarks.
*The Great Meadow, a.k.a. Arlington's Great Meadows, is a sprawling meadow and marshland located in East Lexington, but owned by the town of Arlington, Lexington's neighbor to the east.
*
Willards Woods Conservation Area, a small forest of conservation land donated years ago by the Willard Sisters. Willards Woods is referenced in the classic
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
skit "Donnie's Party".
*Wilson Farm, a farm and farm stand in operation since 1884.
*The Lexington Community Center is a meeting place for Lexington residents.
*Notable Lexington neighborhoods include
Lexington Centre, Meriam Hill (and Granny Hill), Irish Village, Loring Hill, Belfry Hill, Munroe Hill, Countryside (sometimes referred to as "Scotland"), the Munroe District, the Manor Section, Four Corners, Grapevine Corner, Woodhaven, Liberty Heights and East Lexington (fondly "East Village", or "The East End").
*Marrett Square, at the intersection of Marrett Road and Waltham Street, is the location of some light shopping and dining.
*The "Old Reservoir," sometimes referred to by locals as "The Res," used to provide drinking water to Lexington residents and surrounding areas. Now it offers a place to swim and picnic in the summer time. In the winter, when it freezes over, it is used as an ice skating area.
*Book publisher
D.C. Heath was founded in 1885 at 125 Spring Street in Lexington, near the present-day intersection of
Route 128 and MA Route 2, and was headquartered on that spot until its 1995 sale to
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
.
*Lexington is home to several historically significant
modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
communities built by notable architects. These neighborhoods include
Six Moon Hill,
Peacock Farm,
Five Fields, and
Turning Mill/Middle Ridge.
[Kathleen Burge, Boston Globe, ''Out to save the modern home'', 2011 Feb 24](_blank)
/ref>
Notable people
Sister cities
Lexington is a sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inte ...
of:
* Antony, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
* Dolores Hidalgo
Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, ) is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
It is located at , at an elevation of about a ...
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...
, Mexico
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References
Further reading
''1871 Atlas of Massachusetts''.
by Wall & Gra
Map of Massachusetts.Map of Middlesex County.
''History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts'', Volume 1 (A-H)
Volume 2 (L-W)
compiled by Samuel Adams Drake, published 1879 and 1880. 572 and 505 pages
Lexington section
by Charles Hudson in volume 2 pages 9–33 (note page 9 missing).
* ''History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts'
Volume 1 - History
Volume2 - Genealogies
by Charles Hudson, published 1913.
* ''Paul Revere's Ride,'' by David Hackett Fischer, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 1994. .
External links
Town of Lexington official website
Lexington Historical Society
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{{Authority control
1642 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Populated places established in 1642
Towns in Massachusetts
Towns in Middlesex County, Massachusetts