Lexington grew from county seat to lake resort

Lexington began as Sanilac County’s earliest settlement in 1834. Lexington Township was organized in 1837, and the state designated Lexington as the county seat when it organized Sanilac County separately in 1848. The seat moved to Sandusky in 1880. Then the Great Lakes storm of 1913 destroyed Lexington’s major docks, weakening the port that had helped build the community.

Tourism became part of the next chapter. The township’s master plan says the Lake Huron shore had become a summer destination by the end of World War II. Today the village maintains a marina, boat launch, fish-cleaning station, and several public beach-access points around the harbor. Lexington’s story is less about a town fading than about a port finding a new reason for people to come to the water.