The townships included one named Saxe Gotha, which flourished with major crops of corn, wheat, tobacco, hemp, and flax as well as beeswax and livestock, and its residents were primarily of German and Swiss heritage.

Like much of the South after the Civil War, Lexington struggled economically, but local farms and the lumber industry helped stabilize the economy after Reconstruction.

[12] By the 1890s, the Columbia to Augusta Railroad and the Lexington Textile Mill prompted the town to grow.

With the advent of the automobile in the 1920s and its mass production in the 1940s and 1950s, Lexington continued to grow as a suburb of Columbia.

James D. Garcia, a paramedic, was struck and injured at an accident scene on January 28, 1994, after attempting to assist a driver that had slid off of the road.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol listed Garcia at fault, leading to his work to create this law.

The South Carolina General Assembly passed the "move over law" (SC 56–5–1538) 1996 and was revised in 2002 to increase the ease of enforcement and fines.

[13][14] A version of the "move over law" is now in effect in all fifty U.S. states and the District of Columbia; Hawaii was the last to pass legislation in 2012.

[15] On August 16, 1994, Lexington was struck by an F-3 tornado, generated from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl, resulting in over 40 injuries and $50 million in damages.

[16] A Murphy Express gas station on Augusta Highway in Lexington sold a $400 million winning Powerball ticket on September 18, 2013.

Lexington's style of government takes the form of a weak-mayor administration; each member of the council and the mayor has one vote in relation to town matters.

[24] On November 5, 2013, incumbent Lexington mayor Randy Halfacre lost a reelection bid to Councilman Steve MacDougall by 18 votes.

In 2015, Lexington's town council voted in a 5-1 motion to impose a 2% hospitality tax on all prepared food items.

[30] Councilman Todd Carnes drew criticism after stating three time in the council meeting that the government has "infinite power" to create laws such as these, but opposed enacting a face mask ordinance because "science does not indicate that it helps.

Lexington is 12 miles (19 km) west of Columbia, South Carolina's state capital and second-largest city.

[40] According to the Town's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[41] the top employers in the city are: Public transportation in Lexington is provided by the COMET, or officially the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA).