Editing Lexington, Illinois (section)

===The railroad comes to Lexington===
On 4 July 1854 the railroad, which would soon be known as the [[Alton Railroad|Chicago and Alton]], reached Lexington. Suddenly everything changed. A grain warehouse which had been built by Thomas Kincaid was hauled across the tracks, given a passenger platform, and put to use as a railroad station. Dawson and McCurdy built a [[grain elevator]]. Three denominations erected churches.<ref>''Lexington, Illinois, 150 years'' (Lexington: Sesquicentennial Committee, 2007) pp. 34-35.</ref> The town formed its own government; their first act was to buy up the stock of the two local whiskey sellers and pour the contents of the bottles into the mud of Main Street.<ref>Hasbrouck, Jacob, ''History of McLean County, Illinois'' (Topeka and Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Company, 1924). 2:108.</ref> The Mahan brothers built a downtown windmill.<ref>''Architectural Historical Tour: Lexington, Illinois'' (McLean County Arts Council, 1979). no page numbers.</ref>  A new hotel was built. Lexington boomed. By 1865 the first brick block had been erected.<ref>''History of McLean County'' (1879). pp. 34-35.</ref> On 21 November 1860, the train brought [[Abraham Lincoln]] to Lexington, where he spoke a few words of goodbye to his old friends; on 2 May 1865, just before noon, another train passed through Lexington, this one holding Lincoln's body.