Lexington, Virginia is located in the central Shenandoah Valley and is the county seat for Rockbridge County. The city was incorporated in 1841 and, almost from the beginning, its main industry was education. Both Washington & Lee University and Virginia Military Institute are located within the historic district.
Liberty Hall Academy was established in 1790 just to the west of the town. When George Washington made a sizable gift to the college's endowment, the institution's name was changed to Washington College in honor of the Nation's first president. At the end of the Civil War, the presidency of the college was offered to General Robert E. Lee, who presided over it for the five years preceding his death. Shortly thereafter the trustees renamed the school Washington & Lee University.
In 1816, the General Assembly of Virginia established an arsenal in Lexington. By the mid-1830s, a prominent local attorney and graduate of Washington College, John T.L. Preston, advocated the establishment of a State military school at the arsenal. The Virginia Military Institute enrolled its first cadets in November of 1839 and prospered in the years prior to the Civil War. Among its faculty was Major Thomas J. Jackson, later to acquire fame in the Civil War as "Stonewall" Jackson.
Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried here.
Liberty Hall Academy was established in 1790 just to the west of the town. When George Washington made a sizable gift to the college's endowment, the institution's name was changed to Washington College in honor of the Nation's first president. At the end of the Civil War, the presidency of the college was offered to General Robert E. Lee, who presided over it for the five years preceding his death. Shortly thereafter the trustees renamed the school Washington & Lee University.
In 1816, the General Assembly of Virginia established an arsenal in Lexington. By the mid-1830s, a prominent local attorney and graduate of Washington College, John T.L. Preston, advocated the establishment of a State military school at the arsenal. The Virginia Military Institute enrolled its first cadets in November of 1839 and prospered in the years prior to the Civil War. Among its faculty was Major Thomas J. Jackson, later to acquire fame in the Civil War as "Stonewall" Jackson.
Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried here.
