Lexington

Lexington is between East and Middle Yegua creeks on State Highway 77, sixteen miles north of Giddings in Lee County. James Shaw rode horseback into the area in 1837 seeking a favorable grant of land as a reward for his military service to the Republic of Texas. A few families were living east of his claim at that time. Among the other early settlers in the area were Titus Mundine, Gabriel Smith, and Thomas Suppington. In 1848 a post office named String Prairie opened with Shaw as the postmaster; he was also the schoolteacher, a surveyor, and a legislator. In 1850 the community changed its name to Lexington, after the town in Massachusetts. The economy was based on farming and open-range ranching. Settlers on the prairie east of the settlement raised cotton. In 1869 twenty-one families moved by wagontrain from Mississippi, and most settled in this area. As the population increased so did the need for services: general stores, gristmills, blacksmith and wood-working shops, and saloons opened. R. M. Dickson built a general store in 1860 that lasted into the 1930s. A building he built in 1892 was still in use as a grocery store in 1989.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.