Editing Coatesville, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
===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 [[Christina River|West Branch of the Brandywine River]]. This settlement was a post for [[fur trade|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 {{convert|207|acre|km2}} of land bordering the Brandywine River.<ref name="mow">Mowday, Bruce Edward. ''Images of America: Coatesville''; Charleston, South Carolina; Arcadia Press; 2003; pp 7-8. {{ISBN|0-7385-1198-6}}.</ref>

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.<ref name="web">{{Cite web |url=http://www.coatesville.org/visitors/history.asp |title=City of Coatesville website |access-date=2011-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706061216/http://www.coatesville.org/visitors/history.asp |archive-date=2010-07-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Because Coatesville was located roughly halfway between [[Philadelphia]] and [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] on the turnpike, it became a popular stopping place.

[[Peter Bisaillon|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.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pacheste/chester_twplist_caln_1881his.htm Chester Co PA; Caln; 1881 HISTORY<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Veterans Administration Hospital now occupies a large piece of the roughly {{convert|500|acre|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<ref name="web"/> on the western bank of the Brandywine. The village of Midway and the village of Bridge-Town merged in 1867 to become the borough of Coatesville.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Coatesville|volume=6|page=603}}</ref> Coatesville citizens voted to become a city in 1915.

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 {{convert|110|acre|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 Company|Lukens Steel]]. Charles Lukens, MD, 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.<ref>[http://www.steelmuseum.org/rebecca.htm "Rebecca Lukens"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130415204722/http://www.steelmuseum.org/rebecca.htm |date=2013-04-15 }}, National Steel Heritage Museum</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Lukens Main Office.JPG|thumb|right|Main Office of Lukens Steel]]
As Lukens Steel grew so did Coatesville, eventually becoming known as the "[[Pittsburgh]] of the East."<ref name="mow"/>  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 [[Lynching of Zachariah Walker|Zachariah Walker]] was [[Lynching|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 Police]]man 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.<ref name="mow"/><ref name="smith">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160201152533/http://www.dailylocal.com/article/DL/20110813/TMP01/308139966 Eric S. Smith, "Zachariah Walker's lynching haunts the city"], ''Daily Local News'' (Chester County), 13 August 2011, accessed 5 January 2016</ref>

Walker's murder was investigated by the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP), which called for an end to lynching nationwide.<ref name="mow"/> 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 [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchised]] in the South since the turn of the century.
 
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 [[1919 Coatesville call to arms|Coatesville formed a large armed protection group]] to prevent the rumoured 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.

In 1929, the [[Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center|Coatesville VA 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=History - Coatesville VA Medical Center |url=https://www.va.gov/coatesville-health-care/about-us/history/ |website=va.gov |date=9 June 2021 |publisher=U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs |access-date=7 April 2022}}</ref>

The school system expanded to keep up and the religious community became more diverse, with Roman Catholic churches founded and [[Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County|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.

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.<ref name="mow"/>

===21st century===
[[File:Trinity Episcopal Church Coatesville.JPG|thumb|left|Episcopal Church of the Trinity, 323 East Lincoln Highway]]
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 home|single family]] and [[townhouse]] developments. A new [[Marriott Courtyard]] hotel, built along Route 82 on the outskirts of Coatesville, opened in May 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailylocal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120504/NEWS01/120509721/marriott-courtyard-opens-in-coatesville |title=Marriott Courtyard opens in Coatesville |last1=Smith |first1=Eric S. |date=May 5, 2012 |work=Daily Local News (Chester Co., PA) |publisher=dailylocal.com |access-date=2012-04-12}}</ref> <!--The city has major opportunity to redefine itself as 4 out of 5 of its census tracts are eligible to receive several federal and state economic development grants for economic redevelopment and population health. As of January 2017, city leadership has yet to produce the required action plans to appropriately seize these opportunities. The latest activity involves hedging all economic development on the downtown area only, partnering with Wells Fargo amongst others without an effort to complete a population health plan for the city first, a formula for gentrification. A lack of consensus actions has plagued the city throughout the new millennium and is the reason for a cycle of starts and stops, the most popular involving an eminent domain dispute regarding the attempted creation of a city owned golf course. See Coatesville Growing Greater [http://www.coatesvillegrowinggreater.org/ www.coatesvillegrowinggreater.org] -->

The redevelopment plans have generated controversy.<ref>[http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2008/02/20/past%20stories/19956696.txt Authority, council seek to close rift - dailylocal.com<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314140852/http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2008/02/20/past%20stories/19956696.txt |date=2012-03-14 }}</ref> The city was involved in a 5-year [[eminent domain]] dispute with a local landowner in neighboring [[Valley Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania|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 are 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.

[[Coatesville, Pennsylvania arsons|A series of arsons]] took place in the city from 2007 to early 2009.<ref name="ABC0219">{{Citation |last1=Thomas |first1=Pierre |last2=Date |first2=Jack |last3=Cook |first3=Theresa |title=2 Arrests in Devastating Pa. House Fires |newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=2009-02-19 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/FedCrimes/story?id=6913226&page=1 |publisher=ABC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210130246/https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/FedCrimes/story?id=6913226&page=1 |archive-date=2013-12-10 |url-status=dead |access-date=2013-12-03 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Philly2010">{{Citation |last=Brady Shea |first=Kathleen |title=Coatesville arsonist sentenced to 60 years |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=2010-06-08 |url=http://articles.philly.com/2010-06-08/news/24961431_1_arson-fires-work-camp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911103932/http://articles.philly.com/2010-06-08/news/24961431_1_arson-fires-work-camp |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 11, 2012 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=2013-12-03}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2010/09/18/news/srv0000009419693.txt |title=Serial arsonist pleads guilty |author=Rellahan, Michael P. |date=September 18, 2010 |work=Daily Local News (Chester Co., PA) |publisher=dailylocal.com |access-date=2011-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928122606/http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2010/09/18/news/srv0000009419693.txt |archive-date=2012-09-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Twenty of the nearly 70 fires over the two-year span remain unsolved.<ref name="Philly2010"/>

In 1969, Lukens Steel forged steel beams for the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] during its construction in [[New York City]].<ref name=CBS>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-trade-center-steel-beams-returning-home/ |title=World Trade Center Steel Beams Returning Home |date=April 14, 2010 |work=[[CBS News]] |publisher=CBSNews.com |access-date=2011-09-05}}</ref> 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 as a part of the proposed [[National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum]].<ref name=CBS/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.world-architects.com/en/architecture-news/insight/memorializing-9-11-with-wtc-steel|title=Memorializing 9/11 with World Trade Center Steel|work=World Architects|publisher=world-architects.com |access-date=2022-04-07}}</ref>

Twenty-one sites including the [[Coatesville Historic District]], [[Clement Atkinson Memorial Hospital]], [[High Bridge (Coatesville, Pennsylvania)|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]].<ref name="nris">{{cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places - Digital Archive on NPGallery |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP |website=npgallery.nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service-U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=7 April 2022}}</ref>