Editing Coatesville, Pennsylvania (section)

===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.