The town of Lexington is the seat of Henderson County, named in honor of Lexington, Massachusetts, where the first battle of the Revolutionary War was fought. During the Civil War, Henderson County was divided, sending regiments to both sides of the conflict. East of the Highland Ridge, the landscape is hilly; west of the ridge, the land was suitable for plantation farming. The ridge split the county between Union sympathizers to the east and Confederates to the west.
