The first known settlement in the area which would be known as Coatesville was a historic Lenape village built along the West Branch of the Brandywine River.

He built a log cabin in the area of Harmony Street and 5th Avenue and owned about 207 acres (0.84 km2) of land bordering the Brandywine River.

[4] Moses Coates, a prosperous farmer and the namesake of Coatesville, bought the cabin from Fleming's son in 1787.

With the economy rising in the years after the United States gained independence, Moses Coates' son-in-law, Jesse Kersey, came up with a plan to develop the area by selling frontage on the recently completed Lancaster Turnpike which crossed through their land.

[5] Because Coatesville was located roughly halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster on the turnpike, it became a popular stopping place.

[6] The Veterans Administration Hospital now occupies a large piece of the roughly 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land that was once owned by Bizallion.

Before Coatesville became a city, the only one in Chester County, it was called Bridge-Town, after the two bridges crossing the Brandywine River.

"[4] By the beginning of the 20th century the population had grown to 6,000, attracting immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe to its industrial jobs, as well as both black and white migrants from the rural South.

In August 1911, steelworker Zachariah Walker was lynched in Coatesville; he had left his wife and children in Virginia while seeking better work.

This African-American man was accused of killing Deputy Constable/Coal and Iron Policeman Edgar Rice, a popular figure in town.

He was dragged from the hospital and burned to death in front of a mob of hundreds in a field south of the city.

[4][9] Walker's murder was investigated by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which called for an end to lynching nationwide.

But, even after passage of an anti-lynching House bill in the 1920s, no federal law was passed because of the power of the Democratic southern bloc in the Senate.

On July 8, 1919, the black community of Coatesville formed a large armed protection group to prevent the rumoured lynching of a rape suspect.

In 1929, the Coatesville VA Medical Center was built with an original mission to provide neuropsychiatric care to veterans.

[10] The school system expanded to keep up and the religious community became more diverse, with Roman Catholic churches founded and Beth Israel Congregation, one of Chester County's few synagogues.

It finally started to restructure due to industry changes, was sold several times, and its workers were reduced in number to 5,000 and eventually to 2,000.

[12] The city was involved in a 5-year eminent domain dispute with a local landowner in neighboring Valley Township.

[13] A December 2008 fire at a Strode Avenue home resulted in the death of Irene Kempest, an 83-year-old World War II Holocaust survivor.

A fire the following month on the 300 block of Fleetwood Street burned 17 row houses, causing $2 million in damage and leaving dozens of people homeless.

[14] Another man pleaded guilty to the Fleetwood Street fire and eight others, receiving a sentence of 12.5 to 25 years with an order to pay $2.5 million in restitution.

[16][17] Twenty-one sites including the Coatesville Historic District, Clement Atkinson Memorial Hospital, High Bridge, Abram Huston House and Carriage House, Lukens Historic District, Lukens Main Office Building, National Bank of Coatesville Building, Terracina, Carver Court, and Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center are resources listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coatesville has a typical Northeast climate with cold, snowy winters and hot humid summers.

[29] The main east–west road serving Coatesville is US 30, which bypasses the city to the north on a freeway and provides access to Lancaster to the west and Philadelphia to the east.