Lexington, independent city, seat of (but not part of) Rockbridge County, west central Virginia, in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley; founded 1777, incorporated as a city 1966. A commercial and tourist center, it is also the site of Washington and Lee University (1749) and Virginia Military Institute (1839). Other points of interest here include the house and grave of Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson, the burial crypt of Robert E. Lee, and the George C. Marshall Research Library; nearby is Natural Bridge. The city was damaged during the American Civil War. It is named for Lexington, Massachusetts. Population 7,292 (1980); 6,959 (1990); 6,867 (2000).
