Coatesville, Pennsylvania

Beginnings

Varying cultures of Native Americans lived in this area. 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. This settlement was a post for fur trading with the earliest American settlers. The Brandywine River has featured prominently in the history of Coatesville.

William Fleming, originally from Scotland, is one of the earliest landowners on record. 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.^[12]

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. The Lancaster Turnpike was the first toll road in the U.S., authorized in 1792 and completed in 1795. A tollgate was located within the present-day Coatesville city limits.^[13] Because Coatesville was located roughly halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster on the turnpike, it became a popular stopping place.

Pierre Bizallion, a French fur trader, settled in the area in the early 18th century. He was said to serve as an interpreter between William Penn and Native American peoples.^[14] 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.

19th century

Before Coatesville became a city, the only one in Chester County, it was called Bridge-Town, after the two bridges crossing the Brandywine River. A village named "Midway", named after its station owned by the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad midway between Philadelphia and Lancaster, was formed in 1834^[13] on the western bank of the Brandywine. The villages of Midway and Bridge-Town merged in 1867 to become the borough of Coatesville.^[15] Coatesville citizens voted to become a city in 1915.^{[citation needed]}

Coatesville exploited the natural energy of the Brandywine River. Jesse Kersey, Moses Coates' son-in-law, partnered with the ironmaster Isaac Pennock and purchased over 110 acres (0.45 km²) of Moses Coates' farm along both sides of the Brandywine River in 1810. They formed the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory, the forerunner of Lukens Steel. Charles Lukens married Isaac Pennock's daughter Rebecca in 1813. Following her husband's death in 1825, Rebecca Lukens took over the operations of the mill, purchasing it from her mother. She directed operations through a period of turmoil and market panic, developing it into a prosperous mill. Rebecca Lukens was one of the first women to operate a major corporation in the United States.^[16]

20th century

As Lukens Steel grew so did Coatesville, eventually becoming known as the "Pittsburgh of the East."^[12] 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. Tensions rose in the city as the population rapidly became more diverse.

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. Walker claimed self-defense and was hospitalized after his arrest. He was dragged from the hospital and burned to death in front of a mob of hundreds in a field south of the city. Fifteen men and teenage boys were indicted, but all were acquitted at trials. The lynching was the last in Pennsylvania and is said to have left a permanent stain on the city's image.^[12][17]

Walker's murder was investigated by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which called for an end to lynching nationwide.^[12] Pennsylvania passed a state anti-lynching law in 1923. 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. At that time, it represented only white southerners; African Americans had been disfranchised in the South since the turn of the century.^{[citation needed]}

Racial violence was spreading all across America during the Red Summer of 1919 and the local African-American community was on edge. On July 8, 1919, the black community of Coatesville formed a large armed protection group to prevent the rumored lynching of a rape suspect. When the armed group surrounded the jail to prevent the attack, they learned that there was no suspect and no lynch mob.^{[citation needed]}

In 1929, the Coatesville Veterans Medical Center was built with an original mission to provide neuropsychiatric care to veterans. In 2013, the Medical Center, with its distinctive architecture of Colonial Revival and Classical Revival, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Medical Center now provides a range of health care services to more than 19,000 veterans in Pennsylvania and Delaware.^[18]

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. In 1932 there were a total of 22 churches of various denominations in the city.^{[citation needed]}

After World War II the steel industry began a long decline, but in the 1960s Lukens Steel was still the largest employer in Chester County, with over 10,000 workers. 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]

21st century

Since the turn of the century, Coatesville has invested in redevelopment, encouraging private projects. It has torn down public housing and encouraged new single family and townhouse developments. A new Marriott Courtyard hotel, built along Route 82 on the outskirts of Coatesville, opened in May 2012.^[19]

The redevelopment plans have generated controversy.^[20] The city was involved in a 5-year eminent domain dispute with a local landowner in neighboring Valley Township. It was resolved without the need to seize the property, but displeasure with the events resulted in the city voters turning out four incumbent city councilpersons in the November 2005 general elections. Two of the four new councilpersons were ordained Pentecostal and Methodist ministers, respectively. The city council fired the city solicitor, and accepted the resignation of the city manager (who had negotiated with the Valley Township landowner). The assistant manager, police chief, and city treasurer also resigned.

A series of arsons took place in the city from 2007 to early 2009.^[21] 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. By March 2009, police had arrested six suspects in the fires. A total of nearly 70 fires occurred during this period. On June 8, 2010 one man, pleading no-contest due to mental illness, was sentenced to a 60-year prison sentence for five of the fires, one of which resulted in Kempest's death.^[22] 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.^[23] Twenty of the nearly 70 fires over the two-year span remain unsolved.^[22]

In 1969, Lukens Steel forged steel beams for the World Trade Center during its construction in New York City.^[24] Some of these trident beams, known as "trees", remained standing after the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. Ten of the "trees" that remained were transported to Coatesville on April 15, 2010. They are to be used^[when?] as a part of the proposed National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum^{[needs update]}.^[24][25]

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.^[26]

Climate

Coatesville has a typical Northeast climate with cold, snowy winters and hot humid summers. It has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and the hardiness zone is 6b bordering 7a.

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Coatesville had a population of 13,350. The median age was 31.5 years. 30.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 10.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.9 males age 18 and over.^[34][35]

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.^[36]

There were 4,747 households in Coatesville, of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 27.3% were married-couple households, 22.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 41.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[34]

There were 5,221 housing units, of which 9.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.^[34]

2010 census

The 2010 United States census^[37] stated there were 13,100 people, 4,498 households, and 2,889 families residing in the city, with a population density of 6,894.7 people per square mile (2,673.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 38.0% White, 46.4% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.9% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 23.0% of the population.

There were 4,498 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.3% were married couples living together, 27.7% had a female householder with no spouse present, 8.2% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 35.8% were non-families. 42.4% of all households had individuals under 18 living in them, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.46.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.4% under the age of 18. The median age was 31 years. The population was 50.6% female and 49.4% male.

Coatesville had 4,998 housing units, of which 90.2% were occupied. Of the occupied housing units, 37.5% were owner-occupied.

2000 census

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $29,912, and the median income for a family was $36,375. Males had a median income of $31,782 versus $24,774 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,079. About 18.3% of families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.9% of those under age 18 and 15.9% of those age 65 or over.

Council Members

as of January 2024^[update]: