LEXINGTON, a town of western Virginia, U.S.A., near the headwaters of the beautiful Shenandoah valley, i,o5oft. above sea level; the county seat of Rockbridge county. It is on the Lee highway, and is served by the Baltimore and Ohio and the Chesa peake and Ohio railways. The population was 2,87o in 192o, 3,752 in 193o. Natural Bridge is r5m. S.W., and there are mineral springs at several near-by points. Lexington is the seat of Wash ington and Lee university and of the Virginia military institute, each of which has a long and eventful history. The two campuses, connected by a short avenue, lie on a ridge above the town. In the valley 9oft. below flows the North river, a small tributary of the James. The university grew out of an academy founded in which took Washington's name in 1798 (in recognition of a gift), became a college in 1813, and a university under its present name in 1871. Gen. Robert E. Lee was the president from the
close of the Civil War until his death in 587o, and he is buried in the crypt of the Lee Memorial Chapel on the campus. The Vir ginia military institute was established by the State in 5839, to provide a garrison for the State arsenal at Lexington, and has been an important training centre ever since. Over 2,000 officers in the World War had been cadets at the institute. From 1851 to the outbreak of the Civil War Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson was a pro fessor here. A fine statue of him by Sir Moses Ezekiel stands on the grounds, silhouetted against the southern sky, and his tomb is in the Lexington cemetery. The first permanent settlement at Lexington was made about 1778. The town was occupied by Fed eral troops in 1864.