Lexington was settled in 1642 as the Cambridge Farms parish of Cambridge Massachusetts and was was incorporated as a town in 1713. In the beginning, Lexington was a farming community. Throughout its history the down-town has been an active location. Lexington is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolutionary War, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. This became know as the 'Shot heard round the world' when news spread about the revolution. The city prospered by being close to Boston. During the 1960's and 1970's the population significantly increased due to the region's high-tech boom.

Lexington is categorized by MAPC as an Established Suburb. These residential suburbs are characterized by single-family homes on moderately-sized lots, with a relatively affluent population. Multifamily housing and commercial developments are limited in their extent, though some have major employment and retail centers. They still contain remnants of vacant develop-able land for single family subdivisions or new office/industrial parks.

Lexington Points of Interest

• Lexington is probably most well known for its history and is home to many historical buildings, parks, and monuments, most dating from Colonial and Revolutionary times.
• One of the most prominent historical landmarks, located in Lexington Center, is the Common, or as it later became known, the Battle Green, where the battle was fought, and the Minuteman Statue in front of it.
• Another important historical monument is the Revolutionary Monument, the nation's oldest standing war memorial (completed on July 4, 1799) and the grave-site of those colonists slain in the Battle of Lexington.
• Other landmarks of historical importance include the Old Burying Ground (with gravestones dating back to 1690), the Old Belfry, Buckman Tavern (circa 1704-1710), Munroe Tavern (circa 1695), the Hancock-Clarke House (1737), the U.S.S. Lexington Memorial, the Depot Square (old Boston and Maine train station, today the headquarters of the town Historical Society), Follen Church (the oldest standing church building in Lexington, built in 1839), and the Mullikan White Oak (one of Lexington's most distinguished and oldest trees).
• Lexington is also home to the 900-acre (3.6 km2) Minute Man National Historical Park and the National Heritage Museum, which showcases exhibits on American history and popular culture.