Editing Lexington, Kentucky (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}
{{Broader|History of Kentucky}}
{{See also|Lexington, Kentucky, in the American Civil War|National Register of Historic Places listings in Fayette County, Kentucky}}
Lexington was named in June 1775, in what was then considered [[Fincastle County, Virginia]], 17 years before [[Kentucky]] became a [[list of US states|state]]. A party of frontiersmen, led by William McConnell, camped on the Middle Fork of [[Elkhorn Creek (Kentucky)|Elkhorn Creek]] (now known as Town Branch and rerouted under Vine Street) at the site of the present-day [[McConnell Springs (springs)|McConnell Springs]]. Upon hearing of the colonists' victory in the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] on April 19, 1775, they named the site Lexington. It was the first of many American places to be named after the [[Lexington, Massachusetts|Massachusetts town]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbyjamQWtScC&pg=PA16 |title=Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names |publisher=University of Missouri Press |author=Ramsay, Robert L. |year=1952 |page=16 |isbn=9780826205865 |access-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402052403/https://books.google.com/books?id=YbyjamQWtScC&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

On January 25, 1780, 45 original settlers signed the Lexington Compact, known also as the "Articles of Agreement, made by the inhabitants of the town of Lexington, in the [[Kentucky County, Virginia|County of Kentucky]]."<ref>Of these 45 original co-founders, the most common surnames were Wymore (4) and Thompson (3), while Johnson, Niblack, Collins, McDonald, Lindsay, Shannon, Stevenson, and Martin have two signees per name. The Lexington "Articles of Agreement" can be found in the Pogue Library of Murray State University, Murray, KY.</ref> The settlement at Lexington at this time was also known as Fort Lexington, as it was surrounded by fortifications to protect from potential attacks from British-allied Indians. The Articles allocated land by granting "In" lots of 1/2 acre to each share, along with "Out" lots of 5 acres for each share. Presumably the "In" lots were for the family dwelling inside the fortifications, while the "Out" lots were to be "cleared" for farming. (Corn is the only crop specifically mentioned in the Articles.) It is known that several of these original settlers (perhaps many of them) served under General [[George Rogers Clark]] in the [[Illinois campaign]] (also called the Northwestern campaign) against the British in 1778–79.<ref>Paul L. Trovillion, Jr., ''A History and Genealogy of the Wymores of Southern Illinois,' pp. 1–4, 'Silver Horse: Paducah, KY, 1998.''</ref><ref>Copies of the full Lexington "Articles of Agreement" may be found in the Pogue Library, Murray State University, and in ''Fayette County, Kentucky Records'', Vol. 1: pp. 356–357, by Michael L. Cook, C.G. & Betty Cummings Cook, C.G. Cook Publications, 3318 Wimberg, Evansville, IN 47712.</ref> While the ostensible founder of Lexington, William McConnell, is not one of the signees, an Alexander McConnell is. Within two years of signing the Agreement, both John and Jacob Wymore were killed by Indians in separate incidents outside the walls of "Fort Lexington".<ref>Paul L. Trovillion, Jr., ''A History and Genealogy of the Wymores", p. 6.''</ref>
[[File:Henry Clay's law office.jpg|thumb|Historic [[Henry Clay]] law office in downtown Lexington]]

In December 1781, a huge caravan of around 600 pioneers from Spotsylvania County, Virginia—dubbed "The Travelling Church"—arrived in the Lexington area. Led by the preacher Lewis Craig and Captain William Ellis, the Travelling Church established numerous churches, including the South Elkhorn Christian Church in Lexington.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6U-AAAAYAAJ&q=George+Washington+Ranck,+%27%27The+Traveling+Church |author=George Washington Ranck |title=The Travelling Church: An Account of the Baptist Exodus from Virginia to Kentucky in 1781 under the Leadership of Rev. Lewis Craig and Capt. William Ellis |location=Louisville, KY |date=1910 |pages=22 |access-date=August 21, 2010 |archive-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402051740/https://books.google.com/books?id=q6U-AAAAYAAJ&q=George+Washington+Ranck,+%27%27The+Traveling+Church |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 6, 1782, the town of Lexington was chartered by an act of the [[Virginia General Assembly]].<ref name=sos/> Around 1790, the [[First African Baptist Church (Lexington, Kentucky)|First African Baptist Church]] was founded in Lexington by [[Peter Durrett]],<ref name="First African Baptist Church">[https://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/lexington/fab.htm "First African Baptist Church"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629031455/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/lexington/fab.htm |date=June 29, 2014 }}, ''Lexington: The Athens of the West'', National Park Service. Retrieved August 21, 2010.</ref> a Baptist preacher and [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] held by Joseph Craig. Durrett had helped guide "[[The Travelling Church]]" on its trek to Kentucky. This church is the oldest black Baptist congregation in Kentucky and the third-oldest in the United States.<ref name="First African Baptist Church"/><ref name=Nutter>[http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/ky.fayette.fbc.black.lex.html H. E. Nutter, "A Brief History of the First Baptist Church (Black) Lexington, Kentucky"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921103950/http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/ky.fayette.fbc.black.lex.html |date=September 21, 2010 }}, in ''Souvenir, Sesqui-Centennial Celebration, 1790–1940'', Lexington, KY: 1940, accessed August 22, 2010</ref>

In the early 1800s, Lexington was a rising city of the vast territory to the west of the Appalachian Mountains; Josiah Espy described it in a published version of his notes as he toured Ohio and Kentucky:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Espy |first1=Josiah |title=Memorandums of a Tour in Ohio and Kentucky in 1805 |url=http://www.patphil.com/espy02.htm |website=Espy – Morehead, Phil and Pat |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210051230/http://www.patphil.com/espy02.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{cquote|Lexington is the largest and most wealthy town in Kentucky, or indeed west of the Allegheny Mountains; the main street of Lexington has all the appearance of Market Street in Philadelphia on a busy day&nbsp;... I would suppose it contains about five hundred dwelling houses [it was closer to three hundred], many of them elegant and three stories high. About thirty brick buildings were then raising, and I have little doubt but that in a few years it will rival, not only in wealth, but in population, the most populous inland town of the United States&nbsp;... The country around Lexington for many miles in every direction, is equal in beauty and fertility to anything the imagination can paint and is already in a high state of cultivation.<ref>"Athens of the West;" Lexington, Kentucky: The Athens of the West – A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary; National Park Service; 2009</ref>}}

In the early 19th century, Lexington planter [[John Wesley Hunt]] became the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. [[Henry Clay]], a lawyer who married into one of the wealthiest families of Kentucky and served as Speaker of the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1812, helped to lead the [[War Hawks]], pushing for war with Britain to bolster the markets of American products.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hammack |first1=James W. Jr. |title=Kentucky and the Second American Revolution: The War of 1812 |date=1976 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington}}</ref> Six companies of volunteers came from Lexington, with a rope-walk on James Erwin's farm on the Richmond Road used as a recruiting office and barracks until the war ended.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=J. Winston |title=Lexington, the Athens of the West |date=1981 |publisher=Winburn Press |location=Lexington, Ky. |page=28}}</ref> Several Lexingtonians served with prominence as officers in the war. For example, Captain Nathaniel G.S. Hart commanded the Lexington Light Infantry (also known as the "Silk Stocking Boys") and was killed while a captive after the Battle of the River Raisin.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindsey |first1=Helen B. |title=The Lexington Light Infantry Company War of 1812 |journal=Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society |date=July 1944 |volume=42 |issue=140 |pages=263–266}}</ref> Henry Clay also served as a negotiator at the [[Treaty of Ghent]] in 1814.

The growing town was devastated by a [[Cholera epidemic in Lexington, Kentucky|cholera epidemic in 1833]], which had spread throughout the waterways of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys: 500 of 7,000 Lexington residents died within two months, including nearly one-third of the congregation of [[Christ Church Episcopal (Lexington Kentucky)|Christ Church Episcopal]].<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/lexington/cce.htm "Christ Church Episcopal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628195201/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/lexington/cce.htm |date=June 28, 2014 }}, Lexington, National Park Service. Retrieved August 21, 2010.</ref> [[London Ferrill]], second preacher of First African Baptist, was one of three clergy who stayed in the city to serve the suffering victims.<ref name=Nutter/>

Farmers in the areas around Lexington held slaves for use as field hands, laborers, artisans, and [[domestic servant]]s. In the city, slaves worked primarily as domestic servants and artisans, although they also worked with merchants, shippers, and in a wide variety of trades. Farms raised commodity crops of tobacco and hemp, and thoroughbred horse breeding and racing became established in this part of the state. By 1850, Lexington had the highest concentration of enslaved people in the entire state. The city also had a significant population of [[free people of color|free blacks]], who were often of mixed race. By 1850, First African Baptist Church, led by [[London Ferrill]], a free black from Virginia, had a congregation of 1,820 persons. At that time, First African Baptist Church had the largest congregation of any church, black or white, in the state of Kentucky.<ref name=Nutter/>

===20th century to present===
City school superintendent Massillon Alexander Cassidy (1886–1928) implemented [[Progressive Era]] reforms. He focused on upgrading the buildings and setting up teacher-training. He emphasized the need to improve literacy rates and expand access to public schooling. Cassidy's own philosophy stressed the use of science, business, and expertise. He also had a paternalistic attitude toward blacks, who were in segregated public schools.<ref>Richard E. Day and Lindsey N. DeVries. "A Southern Progressive: M. A. Cassidy and the Lexington Schools, 1886–1928." ''American Educational History Journal'' 39.1/2 (2012): 107–125.</ref>

Amidst the tensions between black and white populations over the lack of [[affordable housing]] in the city, a race riot broke out on September 1, 1917. At the time, the Colored A. & M. Fair (one of the largest African American fairs in the South) on Georgetown Pike had attracted more African Americans from the surrounding area into the city. Also during this time, some [[United States National Guard]] troops were camping on the edge of the city. Three troops passed in front of an African American restaurant and shoved some people on the sidewalk. A fight broke out, reinforcements for the troops and civilians both appeared, and soon a riot began. The [[Kentucky National Guard]] was summoned, and once the riot had ended, armed soldiers and police patrolled the streets. All other National Guard troops were barred from the city streets until the fair ended.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2069 |title=Race Riot of 1917 (Lexington, KY) |website=Notable Kentucky African Americans Database |access-date=February 5, 2020 |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205181736/https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2069 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 9, 1920, tensions flared up again, this time over the trial of [[Will Lockett]], a black man who murdered Geneva Hardman, a 10-year-old white girl. When a large mob gathered outside the courthouse where Lockett's trial was underway, Kentucky Governor [[Edwin P. Morrow]] massed the National Guard troops into the streets to work alongside local law enforcement. As the mob advanced on the courthouse, the National Guard opened fire, killing six and wounding 50 others. Fearing further retaliation from the mob, Morrow urged the [[United States Army]] to provide assistance. Led by Brigadier General [[Francis Marshall (U.S. Army officer)|Francis C. Marshall]], approximately 1,200 federal troops from nearby [[Camp Zachary Taylor]] moved into the city the same day to assist National Guard forces and local police in bringing order and peace. Marshall declared [[martial law]] in the city and had soldiers positioned throughout the area for two weeks. Lockett was eventually executed on March 11 at the [[Kentucky State Penitentiary]] in [[Eddyville, Kentucky|Eddyville]], after being found guilty of murdering Hardman.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brackney |first=Peter |title=The Murder of Geneva Hardman and Lexington's Mob Riot of 1920 |pages=89–100, 103–120 |publisher=[[The History Press]] |date=January 20, 2020 |isbn=978-1-4671-4396-7}}</ref>

In 1935, during the [[Great Depression]], the Addiction Research Center (ARC) was created as a small research unit at the [[United States Public Health Service]] hospital in Lexington.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol10N6/ARCHistory.html |title=History of the Addiction Research Center |publisher=Drugabuse.gov |date=May 15, 1935 |access-date=November 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825210041/http://drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol10N6/ARCHistory.html |archive-date=August 25, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Founded as one of the first [[drug rehabilitation]] clinics in the nation, the ARC was affiliated with a federal prison. Expanded as the first alcohol and drug rehabilitation hospital in the United States, it was known as "Narco" of Lexington. The hospital was later converted to operate as part of the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons|federal prison system]]; it is known as the [[Federal Medical Center, Lexington]] and serves a variety of health needs for prisoners. Lexington also served as the headquarters for a [[Pack Horse Library Project|pack horse library]] in the late 1930s and early 1940s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13537685/ |title=Need in Kentucky |date=November 21, 1937 |work=The Indianapolis Star |access-date=September 3, 2017 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=April 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402051740/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star/13537685/ |url-status=live }}</ref>