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Lexington
Missouri, United States
Lexington, city, seat (1823) of Lafayette county, west-central Missouri, U.S., on the Missouri River (there bridged to Henrietta), 35 miles (56 km) east of Kansas City. The site, around William Jack’s Ferry, was settled after 1819. The town was laid out in 1822 and named for Lexington, Ky. One of the worst steamboat disasters in history occurred there in 1852 when the Saluda exploded, killing 250. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Lexington was the most important river town between St. Louis and St. Joseph and commanded the river approach to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Battle of Lexington ...(100 of 220 words)