Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, 33 miles (53 km) west of Philadelphia.

[4] The borough was originally named Milltown due to its number of mills along the East Branch Brandywine Creek, the first of which was founded by Daniel Butter.

Around the time of the American Revolution, Milltown became more commonly known as Downingtown after the prominent businessman Thomas Downing,[5] a Quaker immigrant in 1717 from Bradninch, Devon, England, who owned a number of those mills.

The Lincoln Highway was the first paved road to cross the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Located 18 inches (46 cm) below street level, the house suffered water damage due to runoff from Route 30 and vibration from traffic weakened the structure.

From 1988 until 1990, the Downingtown Historical Society relocated the house and did an extensive restoration with money raised for the project.

[6] In 1904, John S. Trower and William A. Creditt, prominent black Philadelphians, founded the Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School (DIAS) in Downingtown, to serve as an academic and vocational high school for African-American youths to prepare them for work.

[7] Creditt was pastor of the First African Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and Trower, a successful caterer and one of the wealthiest black businessmen in the nation,[8] was a member of his congregation.

[7] Among its trustees in the early decades was Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.

There has also been residential development on recovered industrial lands (brown fields) in the southeastern part of the borough.

The famous Irish patriot and martyr Theobald Wolfe Tone briefly lived here in 1795.

[13] According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2), all land.

Pennsylvania Route 113 starts at US 30 Business in the central part of the borough and heads north along Uwchlan Avenue.

Downingtown station is located along the Lincoln Highway and is served by both SEPTA Regional Rail's Paoli/Thorndale Line and Amtrak's Keystone Service.

The town is also served by SEPTA Suburban Bus Route 135 between Coatesville and West Chester.