Andrew-Withrow House in downtown historic Lexington, Virginia is one of the oldest surviving structures in Lexington. The building was constructed over 200 years ago, in 1789. This building was erected by one of the first settlers and postmasters of the Rockbridge county/Lexington area. He used this as a post office and family residence and consequently became the town’s first post office. In later years, it was transformed into a bank, retail store, school, and a consistently a family home. It is currently known as the Alexander-Withrow house. William Alexander purchased the property on which the building now stands in 1784. This was the first property sale and constructed house in the newly established town of Lexington. William Alexander …show more content…
It describes the building as an unfinished state at the time of 1802, referring to the progress of the current repairs being made. The only indication of damage from the fire was it was probable the roof was destroyed and the present roof was added at the time, however there is no evidence of this. The structure is described in the document as brick house 44 1/2 feet long 34 feet wide. The building was noted as having two stories covered with wood and no building stood within twenty feet of it. Also, In a statement made by one of the buildings past owners was added to the declaration as noting that he had built a brick smoke house within twenty feet of the kitchen.
. Before the 1850s, the roads leading to the center of the town were steep and difficult to climb for horse-drawn carriages with heavy loads. The roads were exceptionally problematic in wet weather. In 1851, the people of the town of Lexington, at the time, made the executive decision to lower the grade of the road to solve this current issue. It was a difficult and costly process, but it needed to be done, and thus the roads were lowered approximately ten