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Lexington, VA

Lexington, Virginia
Independent city
Downtown Lexington
Downtown Lexington
Location of Lexington, Virginia
Location of Lexington, Virginia
Coordinates: 37°47′2″N 79°26′34″W / 37.78389°N 79.44278°W / 37.78389; -79.44278Coordinates: 37°47′2″N 79°26′34″W / 37.78389°N 79.44278°W / 37.78389; -79.44278
Country United States
State Virginia
County None (Independent city)
Government
 • Mayor Mimi Elrod
 • City Manager Noah Simon
 • Commissioner of Revenue Karen T. Roundy
 • Treasurer Patricia DeLaney
 • City Attorney Laurence A. Mann, Esq.
Area
 • Total 2.5 sq mi (6 km2)
 • Land 2.5 sq mi (6 km2)
Elevation 1,063 ft (324 m)
Population (2012)
 • Total 6,998
 • Density 2,817/sq mi (1,088/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 24450
Area code(s) 540
FIPS code 51-45512
GNIS feature ID 1498506
Website Lexington, Virginia

Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2010 census, the population was 7,042. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Lexington (along with nearby Buena Vista) with Rockbridge County for statistical purposes. Lexington is about 57 miles east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.

Lexington is the location of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Washington and Lee University (W&L) and nearby Southern Virginia University (SVU).

Lexington was named in 1778. It was one of the first of what would be many American places named after Lexington, Massachusetts, known for being the place at which the first shot was fired in the American Revolution.

The Union General David Hunter led a raid on Virginia Military Institute during the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried here. It is the site of the only house Jackson ever owned, now open to the public as a museum. Cyrus McCormick invented the horse-drawn mechanical reaper at his family's farm in Rockbridge County and a statue of McCormick is located on the Washington and Lee University campus. McCormick Farm is now owned by Virginia Tech and is a satellite agricultural research center.


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