The town of Paoli grew around an inn kept in 1769 by Joshua Evans, whose father bought 500 acres from William Penn in 1719 near the current site of the Paoli Post Office.

 

Evans named his inn after General Pasquale Paoli, a Corsican, after Paoli had received the 45th and final toast at a Saint Patrick's Day celebration.

 

The inn's location on the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, about 20 miles, one day's drive for a horse-drawn wagon, from Philadelphia, contributed to its success.

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On the evening of September 20, 1777, General Charles Grey and nearly 5,000 British soldiers launched a surprise attack on a Patriot encampment, which became known as the Battle of Paoli. 

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The site of the battle is now part of nearby Malvern.

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The construction of the Main Line of Public Works across Pennsylvania enhanced the village's stature, as the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad passed through it.

 

This became the Pennsylvania Railroad, which built suburban commuter lines out from Philadelphia in the late 19th century, spurring the growth of that city's suburbs.

 

The largest and longest of these commuter lines, the "Main Line", terminated in Paoli.

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