This map shows the village centers of Lexington and East Lexington, as well as borders with the neighboring towns of Lincoln, Bedford, Burlington, Woburn, Winchester, Arlington, Belmont and Waltham. The rail connection between Lexington Center and Boston led to population growth and a demographic shift due to an influx of both working-class laborers attracted by the prospect of jobs on the railroad and middle-class businessmen who wanted to live in a more peaceful countryside setting while still commuting to work in the city. These changes exacerbated a rivalry between the village centers of Lexington and East Lexington that had been ongoing throughout the 1800s. The residents of East Lexington believed that the size of their population and economic contributions as the town’s commercial hub deserved more recognition in town governance and the location of town buildings, while residents of Lexington Center felt that since it had been established first, it was the logical civic center. The arrival of the railroad permanently shifted the commercial heart of town to Lexington Center, and as the advent of automobile transportation closed the distance between the two village centers, the rivalry faded.