Lexington County SC

The historic town of Lexington, South Carolina is a direct descendant of the old Royal township of Saxe Gotha. This township was one of eleven established in 1735 by the Colonial government of King George II to encourage settlement of backcountry South Carolina and serve as a protective buffer between powerful Indian tribes to the west and the older settled plantations of the low country. The name Saxe Gotha was given in honor of the marriage of the King's son, Frederick Louis Prince of Wales, to Princess Augusta of the German Duchy of Saxe-Gotha. (The latter couple became the parents of King George III of England).

Main Street

The territory of colonial Saxe Gotha covered most of present day Lexington County and was traversed by two important early Indian trails, the Cherokee Path which followed roughly modern U.S. Highway #378 and the Occaneechi Path, today U.S. Highway #1. These ancient trading paths and the highways that later developed from them have had an enormous impact on the historical development of the area.

Most of the early settlers came from various cantons, principalities and city-states of Germany and Switzerland. Others came down from Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Despite the disruptive Cherokee Indian War of 1760 and the "Regulator" unrest that followed, the township flourished as a largely self-sufficient area of small scale farming operations. Major crops in the 18th Century included corn, wheat, tobacco, hemp, flax, beeswax and livestock.

During the American Revolution several skirmishes occurred in the area. The Battle of Tarrar Springs was fought just one mile east of Lexington on November 16, 1781.

In 1785 Lexington County was established, changing the name from Saxe Gotha to Lexington in honor of the Massachusetts Revolutionary War battle. The county's first courthouse was built at Granby, located just south of present day Cayce. From 1800 to 1868 the county was organized as a district with the same name.

With the clearing of upriver lands for the spreading cotton culture, Granby became plagued with floods. The district seat was moved in 1820 when the present town of Lexington was laid out on a high, healthy sand ridge near Twelve Mile Creek. The town was known as Lexington Courthouse throughout the 19th Century since in the first few years of its existence there was only the courthouse with few residences.

By 1861, when it was incorporated as a town, Lexington boasted a diverse population of lawyers, physicians, tradespeople, artisans and farmers. There were then 2 churches, several schools, a carriage factory, a saw and gristmill, a tannery, livestock yard, tin and blacksmiths, and a weekly newspaper. The major crops of the surrounding countryside were mainly cotton, corn sweet potatoes and lumber. Lexington was not a marketing center for these staples, but did serve as a retail market for manufactured goods purchased wholesale by merchants in nearby Columbia.

In 1865 the town was virtually destroyed by occupying Union Army forces guarding General Sherman's western flank. The courthouse, district jail and St. Stephen's Lutheran Church were put to the torch as were most businesses and homes.

The small farms with their varied crops and the lumber industry stabilized somewhat the economy of the area after Reconstruction years. The completion of the Columbia to Augusta Railroad just after the Civil War and the construction of the Lexington Textile Mill in 1890 contributed greatly to the growth of the town itself. Disastrous fires in 1894 and 1916 on Main Street resulted in the construction of brick buildings, many of which are standing today.

The Town of Lexington has continued to be the political center of Lexington County, one of the fastest growing areas of the nation. With new major highways passing nearby, the town continues to experience phenomenal growth.

Source: Wikipedia