Lexington Town Archives

Welcome to the digital repository of Lexington’s Town Archives – a permanent archive for reference and public access to a collection of the town records, manuscripts, and documents created through the years by Lexington’s town departments. Collection highlights include land records, early vital records of births, marriages and deaths, deeds and agreements, annual town reports, records of town meetings and elections, boards and committees, and other general governance records.

The town archives seek to document, protect, preserve, and provide access to the official records of the Town. The Historic Archives generally includes records from 1642 to 1925. Current day records include the years from 1926 to the present.

Digital access to these materials is made available by town meeting appropriation in the operating budget and through Community Preservation Act funding.
 

Selected Historic Documents

The following “virtual exhibit” provides access to the repository of digital images highlighting a selection of the Town of Lexington’s oldest documents, presented in conjunction with Lexington’s 300th anniversary celebrations.

These documents are organized into seven separate exhibits:

Lexington Before the Revolution
Lexington Before the Revolution
A set of documents (1713-1775) related to property boundaries and roads; bonds for support of dependent persons; indentures; tax records; and the incorporation of Lexington.  View Exhibit Page

Civil War and Militia
Civil War and Militia
A set of documents (1799-1919) concerning military matters in Lexington, including lists of Lexington men liable for conscription up to World War I; records concerning Lexington men in the state militia; certificates of enlistment; and records concerning recruitment during the Civil War.  View Exhibit Page

Schools
Schools
A set of documents (1805-1931) concerning the Lexington public schools, including lease and rental of land; invoices from teachers; invoices for repairs and supplies; and reports on school needs.  View Exhibit Page

Cemeteries
Cemeteries
A set of documents (1831-1978) including land transactions; lists of burials; cemetery maps; and other documents related to Lexington's burial places--the Old Burying Ground, the Minuteman Monument on the Common, and the Munroe, Robbins, and Westview Cemeteries.  View Exhibit Page

Health and Welfare
Health and Welfare
A set of documents (1751-1989) including records for the town poor farm; indentures (contracts for job training in exchange for work) for young people in the town's care; payments to people who agree to board indigent persons in their homes; records of the Overseers of the Poor; and other documents concerning the well-being of Lexington people.  View Exhibit Page

Roads, Ways, Railways and Highways
Roads, Ways, Railways and Highways
A set of documents (1737-1971) concerning the construction and maintenance of roads; highway taxes; and the coming of the railroad.  View Exhibit Page

Land History
Land History
A set of documents (1722-1928) including deeds, perambulations, and other records concerning land ownership and land boundaries in Lexington. (Note: In the days when town boundaries were delineated by trees, boulders, ditches, and other impermanent markers, the selectmen of every two adjoining towns would meet every few years to review the boundaries, a proceeding called a "perambulation.”)  View Exhibit Page

Contemporary Records

Records from 1926 to the present relating to land records, deeds and agreements, annual town reports, records of town meetings and elections, boards and committees, and other general governance records.

Important Lexington Resources

Important history-related resources in Lexington include the following: