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"When Kentucky became a state in 1792, Lexington was the center of what they then called W.C. the Western Country," he said. "Both Daniel Boone, who came across the Appalachians from the South, and people who came across the Ohio River seemed to hit here at the same time and created a community." The town was named in June 1775, when a party of Pennsylvania hunters camping on the site of the future town learned of a famous battle fought in Massachusetts. They commemorated the event by naming the site Lexington. Permanent settlement of Lexington began four years later, when Robert Patterson built a crude fort to garrison his 25-man expedition force. Patterson later laid out the town of Lexington and eventually represented the area in Kentucky's first house of representatives.
Lexington was not the first Kentucky town, but it was the finest, said Houlihan. "Even though Harrodsburg and Boonesborough were slightly older, Lexington was seen as the premier city and called the Athen's of the West," he said. "It had Kentucky's first public library, the first newspaper, first opera house and Transylvania University. Transylvania, now a small liberal arts college, was chartered in 1780 and moved to Lexington in 1799. It developed law and medical schools, a seminary, and an agricultural and mechanical college. The latter department was moved across town and, in 1882, became the University of Kentucky.
Lexington was originally the commercial center of the region, but the invention of the steamboat gave rise to the larger river towns of Louisville and Cincinnati. Lexington still prospered, though, said Houlihan. "Even after other cities grew larger, Lexington had a quality-of-life advantage."
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