Lexington, Kentucky

Being the second largest city in Kentucky, Lexington is also known as the horse capital of the world. Horse racing is an important activity here, and some prominent horse turfs are the Kentucky Horse Park, the Keeneland race course, and Red Mile race course.

It also has the distinction of being the city with the most college graduates in the United States. Some well-known universities located here are Transylvania University and Bluegrass Community & Technical College. Incidentally, the city is located in the Bluegrass Region. This region is located to the north of Kentucky and has a large population of people, along with some major cities.

Lexington is located in Fayette County, and covers almost all of it. A majority of the city's landscape is rolling plateau. This means there is plenty of pastureland excellent for livestock activities. The place is ideal to rear horse, cattle, and sheep. The good soil conditions in Lexington have created opportunity for farmers and livestock breeders. This is a chief economic activity here.

The city has a humid sub-tropical climate, meaning the summers are hot and humid, and the winters are cold. Lexington, due to its humid weather has been classified as an allergic area by the Asthma Foundation of America.

Lexington is a great place to live in. It has something to appeal to everyone's senses. People of any age or any profession will surely find the city exciting and vivacious to their own liking.

Lexington History

The Bluegrass Region was primarily inherited by Red Indians. When the Europeans first arrived here, the place was used for hunting by the native tribes. Daniel Boone was one of the earliest people from the civilized world to conduct exploration on the place. Through him, two forts were built in the area named Harrodsburg and Boonesborough (named after Daniel Boone himself).

Before Kentucky even became a federal state, the city of Lexington was founded in 1775. Before being founded, Lexington's original name was Virginia. Lexington was named after Lexington in Massachusetts. During the American Revolution some frontiersmen were camping in Lexington. Upon hearing the victory of the colonists in the Battle of Lexington they decided to use this name for the site on which they were camping on.

But the place was always a sitting duck for Indian and British attacks. Due to this, habitation was delayed. Shortly, in 1779, Colonel Robert Patterson and some of his friends made a blockade fort called Bryan Station. This place was attacked in 1782 by the British, but colonists defended it successfully.

Lexington was by far one of the wealthiest towns in America's nascent history. By 1820, farming and livestock activities were producing a lot of income for the local people here. It was named Athens of the West because the local people adopted a pristine lifestyle. The lifestyle was cultured, and elite; a direct relative by-product of wealth.

So it was not a surprise that Lexington produced the first millionaire - John Wesley Hunt. But even with wealth, there were no medical advances in the city. A cholera epidemic devastated the city in 1833 leaving more than seven thousand people dead in a matter of sixty days. There were more outbreaks between 1848 and in the 1850s. This was one big problem for the wealthy and well-cultured people of Lexington. Most of it happened due to the lack of knowledge of how Cholera spreads. Another reason could be due to the high concentration of animals which lead to the contamination of water.

The wealthy farmers in Lexington were the first ones to employ slaves. Most of the farming and livestock rearing activities were taken care of by slaves. Slaves also worked as domestic servants. They would do most of the manual work in Lexington. Lexington had the highest percentage blacks in Kentucky at that time. The modern day Lexington has more than thirteen percent well-educated blacks, who have come afar from their early lineages of slavery. Lexington now is a multicultural city encouraging all kinds of pluralism.

About Lexington, Kentucky

The city of Lexington gives numerous opportunities to do, see, and experience a lot of interesting things to visitors and residents alike.

Thoroughbred horses can be seen in their early morning workouts at Keeneland Race Course. This place can be visited on a self-guided mode.

Lexington, as much as it is known for its horses, is known for its horsepower. At Toyota Motor Manufacturing, manufacturing of Toyota automobiles and automotive parts can be viewed. This is one of the manufacturing centers of Toyota, and from here some main automobile exports are made.

The Buffalo Trace is another place worthy of mention. Raising a toast to the spirit of Lexington, literally speaking, this is a whisky distillery. Named the Whiskey Attraction of the Year by Whisky Magazine, Buffalo Trace produces the finest straight bourbon whiskey. There is also another place in Lexington known as Wild Turkey. This brand falls in the same league as Buffalo Trace, and has a lot of local nicknames attached to it, the most famous one being 'dirty bird'.

Lexington is home to enrapturing nature trails. At the Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, there are a lot of winding nature trails that will leave visitors spellbound. Running along the beautiful areas adjoining the Kentucky River Palisades, the trails pass through lush meadows, and crystal clear streams. Spread across 470 acres of fertile land, the sanctuary is home to more than four hundred species of plants. The best known one is the spring wildflower. Among the trails, the most visited one is the Barrier-Free Trail. This is because this trail is paved and fit for anyone who wants to take a non-problematic leisurely stroll.

A happening urban center and a place to see Lexington's daily life is the Triangle Park. Situated at the far end of Main and Broadway, the Triangle Park has plenty of water fountains. The area is full of fountains for the nearby courthouses have ones as well. From here, the daily life of Lexington can be seen. The hustle and bustle of the city passes through this place almost always.

The Art Museum at The University of Kentucky is where details of Lexington's history are on vivid display in the form of artifacts, and other masterpieces. The American Association of Museums accredited museum displays some of humanity's best artistic masterpieces. It is home to more than four thousand paintings from European and American artists.

The Art Museum also updates itself regularly. A periodic visit will reveal this. Apart from permanent collections, it also displays newly procured ones. In a way the museum means business.

About Fayette County, Kentucky

Lexington city is situated in Fayette county and is the county seat and often the county is seen as an extension of Lexington. Fayette county is also a constituent of Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is an administrative area for enabling correct demographic census information.

Named after Marquis de Lafayette, a revolutionary war hero, in 1974 Fayette County consolidated its government with Lexington. This was to form what is known as a city-county governance type. This city-county governance type comes under the aegis of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.

Fayette county was formed by the Virginia Act. In 1780, under this act, three counties were formed. These counties were part of the former Kentucky county, Virginia. Fayette county was born out of it, and so were Jefferson and Lincoln counties. The Kentucky river was the yardstick used to determine where the counties were demarcated. Fayette county occupied the northern and eastern areas of this river.

Geographically, Fayette county is bounded by six counties. To the north are Scott and Bourbon counties. To the south are Madison and Jessamine counties. To the west is Woodford county. To the east is Fayette county.

Fayette county, due to its history of employing slaves is home to a good amount of black hamlets, homes, and establishments. Even now, some historic black hamlets have been restored. Bracktown, Cadentown and Little Georgetown are the names of some of these hamlets. Such residencies give an account of how slaves lived in the past.

Fayette county, as much like Lexington was a rural community. Since the main occupation of the whole place revolved around livestock and farming activities, there are a lot of rural communities that still persist here in modern America. Some of them are Athens, Clays Ferry, Little Texas, Andover, Todds Stations and plenty of other small ones.

There are major colleges, universities and schools in Fayette county. Some well known colleges and universities are Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Indiana Wesleyan University (Lexington campus), and Transylvania University.