DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's a story worth telling right. Now, you're rolling through Lee County, and the land out here has been holding its stories a long time. This town — Lexington — got its start in 1837, back when this whole stretch was still part of Burleson County.
And the name? Named for a town in Massachusetts — the very place where the American Revolution began. That's the kind of name a settlement puts on itself when it wants folks to know it means business.
Before any of that, though, the first inhabitants of this area were the Tonkawa Indians. The land knew people long before the surveys were drawn. Then came James Shaw.
Born in 1808, all the way over in Ohio, trained up as a surveyor and a teacher — a man who measured land for a living and then turned around and taught others how to think about it. In 1836, he was in the thick of it at the Battle of San Jacinto, and he received a land grant for that service. The very next year, 1837, he settled right here.
James Shaw — the first white settler in the area. He didn't stop there. In 1849, he set up the first post office, over at the nearby String Prairie community.
A man building institutions, one by one, out on the Texas frontier. Now, the early cotton industry — it rose, and then it declined. Towns have a way of dimming when the money crop fades.
But Lexington had that name to live up to, and in 1890, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad came rolling through. The town revived. James Shaw passed in 1879, so he didn't see that railroad come in.
But he'd already done the hard part — showed up in 1837 and stayed. Some towns get named for glory. This one was built by it.
What the marker says
Settled in 1837 in area then part of Burleson County; named for Massachusetts town where the American Revolution began. First inhabitants of the area were Tonkawa Indians. The first white settler was James Shaw (1808-1879), a young surveyor and teacher from Ohio. He received a land grant for service in 1836 in the Battle of San Jacinto. He settled here, 1837, and set up first post office at nearby String Prairie community, 1849. Although early cotton industry declined, the town revived, 1890, when San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad reached here.