History of Lexington, Missouri

The following chronology is not a complete account of the history of Lexington, but covers some of the high points in the city's rich and eventful past. For more information on the Civil War Battle of Lexington visit the Battle of Lexington page.

1847 The initial stages of construction began on the present courthouse. The Lexington Missouri Fire
Company was incorporated.

1852 One of the worst steamboat disasters in history occurred in Lexington. On April 19, the steamboat Saluda was carrying approximately 250 Mormons upriver towards the Great Salt Lake, and met with icy, heavy currents and exploded, killing all but a few of the passengers.

1861 Lexington was in its greatest prosperity at the outbreak of the Civil War. Lafayette County remained steadfast to the Union until the beginning of actual hostilities when most of the citizens took the side of the South. The Battle of Lexington was fought on September 18, 19 & 20.

1867 Coal mines opened in Lafayette County.

1880 Wentworth Male Academy, now Wentworth Military Academy, opened.

1887 Lexington Building and Loan incorporated.

1889 The Lexington News was established.

1896 The telephone came into use in Lexington. Lafayette Telephone Co. incorporated December 1898.

1898-99 Lafayette County's Company K, 5th Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, reported for duty April 27, 1898, in the Spanish-American War.

1906 Lexington's new City Hall (now called Lafayette Hall) completed.

1923 Construction of the Lexington Bridge began.

1928 Madonna of the Trail monument dedicated September 17 by Jackson County Judge Harry S. Truman, of Independence.

1933-35 The Depression Years. Coal mines, farms mainstays of Lexington economy.

1946 Henry Dankers elected Mayor. He would serve until his death in 1971, the longest period of any mayor in the history of Lexington.

1948 National Guard unit organized.

1957 Leslie Bell school dedicated. Mr. Bell, for whom the school was named, served the Lexington School system for 40 years.

1960 National Guard Armory dedicated.

2003 The Saluda Memorial in Heritage Park is dedicated.

2004 The Lewis & Clark 200th anniversary Bicentennial Re-enactment flotilla stoped in Lexington near one of the original camp sites. A marker at the river is dedicated. Also this year the Lexington Riverfront Park was re-opened to the public after $250,000 worth of renovation.

2006 The Lexington Express Newspaper began publishing. The paper was named in honor of the first newspaper to ever be published in Lafayette County. The original Lexington Express began publishing in 1839 and continued through the Civil War era.

2011 - Lexington will Commemorate the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the American Civil War. As the largest city on the Western Border of Missouri through the years of "Bloody Kansas", Civil War and Order 11, Lexington was valued by both North and South not only for her population's size, education, and political views, but also for her position as an important Missouri river port. The war played out hard and heavy for the sons and daughters of Lexington, and in 2011 special activities are being planned to share Lexington and Lafayette County's history with the rest of the United States.