, built 1710
Indigenous history Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Lexington for thousands of years prior to
European colonization of the Americas, 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 to the south, and
Nipmuc 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 epidemics, 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 purchased the land that would become present-day Lexington, then within the boundaries of
Cambridge, from the
Naumkeag Squaw Sachem of Mistick. as part of
Cambridge, Massachusetts. 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,
England. In the early colonial days,
Vine Brook, which runs through Lexington,
Burlington, and
Bedford, 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 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, 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,
John Hancock and
Samuel Adams, who were staying in Lexington. Hancock and Adams were warned of the danger by two alarm riders,
Paul Revere 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. 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) 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 and
BAE Systems 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 location of the USAF "
Experimental SAGE Subsector" for testing a developmental prototype IBM computer, which 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==