Portal:Kentucky/Selected city/2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lexington, known as the "Horse Capital of the World," is located in the heart of the Bluegrass region. It is the second-largest city in Kentucky, after Louisville. On January 1, 1974 Lexington became the first municipality in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to form a consolidated city-county government by merging with Fayette County. In 2006, the population estimate given by the U.S. Census Bureau was 275,754.
Lexington is home to the Kentucky Horse Park, Keeneland race course, the Red Mile race course, Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky. Lexington has been selected to be the site of the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games.
By 1820, it was one of the largest and wealthiest towns west of the Allegheny Mountains. So cultured was its lifestyle, Lexington gained the nickname "Athens of the West." One early prominent citizen, John Wesley Hunt, became the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. Slaves were widely held and used as laborers, field hands and domestic servants in Kentucky. In 1850, 1/5 of the state's population were slaves, and Lexington had the highest concentration of slaves in the state.
