Lexington, Kentucky, USA
1854 - Lexington

Lexington, a handsome and wealthy city, capital of Fayette county, Kentucky, on the Town fork of the Elkhorn river, 26 miles S. E. from Frankfort, 81 miles S. from Cincinnati, and 94 miles E. from Louisville. Lexington is the second city of the state in population and importance. Few inland towns are more delightfully situated or more remarkable for the beauty of their general appearance. It is laid out in rectangular blocks ; the streets are well paved, and bordered with ornamental trees. Main street is 80 feet wide, and more than a mile long. Many of the public and private buildings are spacious and very handsome specimens of architecture. The surrounding country is undulating, highly cultivated, and dotted with elegant mansions. Lexington is distinguished for the excellence of its literary and scientific establishments. Transylvania University of this place is a flourishing institution: the departments of law and medicine are probably more frequented than any other in the Western states. It has a library of 14,000 volumes. The halls of the university are among the principal ornaments of the city. The state lunatic asylum located here occupies a large and beautiful building, capable of accommodating more than 300 patients. The city also contains a court house, 2 banks, a public library, several academies, a museum, an orphan asylum, about 12 churches, and 5 or 6 newspaper offices. A monument is to be erected here to the memory of Henry Clay, who resided at Ashland, a mile and a half from the city. Lexington is the centre of an extensive trade, facilitated by a rail road extending to Louisville vid Frankfort. Other railways are in course of construction which are designed to connect it with Cincinnati, Maysville, and Danville. This place is the seat of valuable manufactures, the most important of which produce bagging, ropes, iron, brass, and silver ware, machinery, and carriages. The city and suburbs produce annually about 3,000,000 yards of bagging, and 2,500,000 pounds of rope. Lexington was formerly the capital of Kentucky. It was founded in 1776, and incorporated in 1782. Population in 1846, 8178; in 1853 it was about 12,000.


A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

Visit Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.