Long before the town existed, Major Richard B. Mason set up Camp Holmes north of present-day Lexington in 1835, and a treaty was signed there. The town itself was planned before the 1889 Land Run, opened its post office in 1890 and took its name from Lexington, Kentucky.
Lexington is a compact city of about 2.4 square miles, with 2,010 residents counted in the 2020 census and ZIP code 73051. The Canadian River marks its western edge and the McClain County line.
The James C. Nance Memorial Bridge carries US 77 and State Highway 39 across the river to Purcell. A four-lane concrete bridge replaced the old 1930s truss span and fully opened on July 26, 2019, after two years of construction.
Tornadoes have touched down near town several times. Records list an EF1 on May 4, 2020, that damaged trees and the roof of a mobile home east of Lexington; a high-end EF0 on June 6, 2025, that damaged a home’s roof to the east; and an EF1 on January 8, 2026, that badly damaged an outbuilding north of town.
The City of Lexington can change its building requirements. We confirm what a reroof currently needs with the city before work begins.