Lexington

Sister cities

• Dnipro
• Haifa
• Gatchina
• Dolores Hidalgo Municipality
• Antony

History

, built 1710]] Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Lexington for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, as attested by a woodland-era archaeological site near Loring Hill south of the town center. At the time of European contact, the area may have been a border region between Naumkeag or Pawtucket to the northeast, Massachusett to the south, and Nipmuc to the west, though the land was eventually purchased from the Naumkeag. The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics, leaving the area largely uncontested upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in the Puritan Great Migration. In 1639, the Massachusetts General Court purchased the land that would become present-day Lexington, then within the boundaries of Cambridge, from the Naumkeag Squaw Sachem of Mistick. as part of Cambridge, Massachusetts. How the town received its name is the subject of some controversy. One view is that it was named in honor of Lord Lexington, an English peer. Another view is that it was named after Lexington (which was pronounced and is today spelled Laxton) in Nottinghamshire, England. In the early colonial days, Vine Brook, which runs through Lexington, Burlington, and Bedford, and then empties into the Shawsheen River, was a focal point of the farming and industry of the town. It provided water for many types of mills, and in the 20th century, for farm irrigation. On April 19, 1775, what many regard as the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, the Battle at Lexington, took place. On the night of April 18, the British Army sent out 800 grenadiers and light infantry soldiers on foot from Boston, with the intention of destroying…

Geography

Lexington is located at (42.444345, −71.226928). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 16.5 square miles (42.8 km2), of which 16.4 square miles (42.5 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km2), or 0.85%, is water. Lexington is bordered by Burlington, Woburn, Winchester, Arlington, Belmont, Waltham, Lincoln, and Bedford. It has more area than all other municipalities that it borders.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  155,742
• Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  148,688
• Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  130,348
• Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  126,677
• Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  117,780
• Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  114,559
• Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810)

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  110,911
• Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  106,933

Largest nearby schools

• Lexington High
  High · Lexington · 2,303 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Everett High
  High · Everett · 2,231 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Newton North High
  High · Newtonville · 2,099 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin
  High · Cambridge · 1,867 students · 8.7:1 ratio
• Malden High
  High · Malden · 1,856 students · 16:1 ratio
• Newton South High
  High · Newton Centre · 1,837 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Waltham Sr High
  High · Waltham · 1,751 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• Billerica Memorial High School
  High · Billerica · 1,726 students · 13.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 2.61 — 2013-10-11
  New Hampshire