Lexington

Town in Middlesex County, east Massachusetts; population (2000 est) 30,400. It is located 17 km/11 mi northwest of Boston, of which it is a mainly residential suburb. Industries include printing and publishing. Lexington is also an electronic, optical, and scientific research centre. First called Cambridge Farms, after European settlement in 1642, Lexington was incorporated in 1713.

The Battle of Lexington and Concord (19 April 1775) was the opening skirmish of the American Revolution. It is re-enacted each April.

The town's large historical district incorporates Lexington Green (the actual site of the battle); the Hancock-Clarke House (1698), where John Hancock and Samuel Adams stayed before the battle, and where Paul Revere arrived to notify them of British plans to capture military stores at Concord; Munroe Tavern (1695), the British headquarters, also used as a hospital; and Buckman Tavern (1710), the headquarters of the American forces, the minutemen. The Minute Man National Historic Park is one of 12 entries on the national register of historic places.