The place was settled in 1850 by George W. Coulter, for whom it is also named. For a time Coulter lived in a tent flying the American Flag, prompting local Mexicans to call the place Banderita. The Maxwell's Creek post office opened in 1852 and changed its name to Coulterville in 1853. The name Maxwell honors George Maxwell, with whom Coulter cast lots to determine the name of the town. Coulterville is registered as California Historical Landmark #332. A large portion of the downtown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Coulterville Main Street Historic District. The 1867 Brevet General James F. Rusling inspection report notes that most of the Stockton to Coulterville area was "in almost continuous wheat-fields" May 24th - 26th, 1866.. The intersection of California State Route 49 and California State Route 132, where the Hotel Jeffery sits, appears briefly in the movie Road Queen.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Coultervillle had a population of 201. The population density was 47.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Coultervillle was 181 White, 0 African American, 5 Native American, 1 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 0 from other races, and 14 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20 persons. The Census reported that 201 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 95 households, out of which 19 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 34 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 9 had a female householder with no husband present, 11 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 8 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 32 households were made up of individuals and 11 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12. There were 54 families ; the average family size was 2.61. The population was spread out with 30 people under the age of 18, 15 people aged 18 to 24, 35 people aged 25 to 44, 77 people aged 45 to 64, and 44 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52.9 years. For every 100 females there were 116.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.8 males. There were 130 housing units at an average density of 30.8 per square mile, of which 65 were owner-occupied, and 30 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 11.4%. 134 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 67 people lived in rental housing units.
