Lexington, IL

Lexington is a McLean County city laid out on higher ground above the Mackinaw River, roughly between Bloomington and the old Chicago Trail. The 2020 census counted 2,090 residents. Its name has two local origin stories, one tied to the Battle of Lexington and another to co-founder James Brown's hometown. The city began as a rest stop on the road between Springfield, Bloomington, and Chicago, a role that still helps account for its location after the trail became a modern road network.

The John Patton Log Cabin keeps the early settlement story visible, and the city's parks spread everyday recreation around the old center. Keller Park has a pool, courts, fields, a playground, and a trail toward the Mackinaw River. Lexington Community Unit School District 7, including Lexington High School, is another fixed point on the local map. Lexington's local scoop is an Illinois crossroads where a riverbank settlement, a frontier cabin, and a school campus still organize the map.