Coatesville Historic District - Coatesville, PA
N 39° 58.996 W 075° 49.429
18S E 429661 N 4426224
One of the more notable scenes along the 3,389 miles of the Lincoln Hwy is this small, beautiful town which grew up along this famous road. It's historic district runs right along the famous hwy. corridor. Founded by original settler, Moses Coates.
Waymark Code: WMDEKJ
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 01/03/2012
Views: 2
There seems to be two parts to Coatesville, at least the part that is touristy. First is this historic district running along the Lincoln Highway and the second part, the Lukens Historic District which runs along N. 1st Avenue, a spoke off the highway. Curiously, parts of Lukens are included in the Coatesville historic district so each is part of the other. Both have to be visited. Both are the perfect place for a leisurely Saturday or Sunday afternoon stroll. There are lots of 19th century sites with wonderful architecture, each with its own story to tell. Interpretives and historical markers help to explain what the visitor is seeing. I was particularly taken with the signage, many of the original or just very old. Remember to visit the Clock Tower apartments, formerly a bank and site of the town's clock. There are numerous waymarks which further given an account of this historic district.
Coatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,100 at the 2010 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. Coatesville grew up around the Lukens Steel Company. Lukens was bought by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1997. In 2002, Bethlehem was bought by the then Ohio-based International Steel Group (ISG). Later, Mittal Steel bought ISG and then merged with Arcelor Steel to form the ArcelorMittal company. SOURCE
Naturally, a place with so much history has an entry in the AGS:
COATESVILLE, 40.8 m. (381 alt., 14,582 pop.), in the shadow of South Mountain and divided by the wet branch of the Brandywine - here a black murky stream - has the worlds largest steel plate rolling mill. In normal times almost 4,000 workers are employed in the long blackened, shedlike structures lining the creek. In addition to the plate mill, the city has three metal-products plants and four textile mills. The section around the mills is crowded with small frame houses; the central business section is modern and attractive, as is the better residential section at the eastern edge of the community. Moses Coates settled here in 1717. --- Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State, 1940; page 441
The Coatesville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. Portions of the original nomination document can be found HERE.