“Lexington and Transylvania:  A Rewarding 225-year Partnership”
An Address to the Lexington Historical Museum, April 28,2005.

Note: John D. Wright, professor of history emeritus at Transylvania University, presented this paper as part of the "An Evening With Our History" series at the Lexington History Museum. Dr. Wright and his wife Fran moved permanently to their home in Vermon following his retirement from Transylvania. He is the author of the history of the pioneer college, Transylvania: Tutor to the West.

By John D. Wright, Jr.

The historical intertwining relationship between Lexington and Transylvania University is today best symbolized in the official seal of the city which features the classical front of Old Morrison.  This relationship began quite early in the emergence of both these entities.
Lexington’s conception began among a small group of pioneers from Pennsylvania who, among numerous other groups exploring Kentucky, had temporarily camped near a spring on the Elkhorn River, now known as McConnell’s spring.  Here they first heard the news about the famous encounter between the Massachusetts Minutemen and British troops at Lexington on the morning of April 19,1775, which triggered the American Revolutionary War.  These pioneers proposed that future town to be erected in this area should be called Lexington in honor of the distant battle. 

Four years passed before that hope became a reality when, under the leadership of Robert Patterson, early settlers built a fort along the middle fork of the Elkhorn near the present site of the Radisson Hotel.  A year later in 1780 a much larger stockade and fort were built.  Despite challenging extremes of weather and the threat of Indian attacks, the settlers chose town trustees who laid out a grid plan for the future town, similar to Philadelphia or New York.  Lots were laid out along the Town Branch.  In 1782, the Virginia legislature passed an act recognizing the town of Lexington under the supervision of the trustees. 

Meanwhile the Revolutionary War was sweeping into this trans-Allegheny region.  George Rogers Clark led successful campaigns against the British in the region west and north of Louisville.  Settlers in the Lexington area had to confront attacks by combined British and Indian forces, the closest being at Bryan’s Station in August 1782 that was repelled.  Unfortunately the victorious fighters in pursuing the retreating Indians were savagely ambushed at Blue Licks. 

Once the war was over and the threat of Indian attacks diminished, Lexington began to develop rapidly as its location became a nucleus for roads radiating to Harrodsburg, Danville, Maysville, and other settlements.