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Elkhart County, Indiana

Goshen history and records

County ElkhartFounded 1831City 1868County seat

Goshen, 1861 and todayOn the valley map

Goshen was made to be a county seat. In 1831 the Elkhart County commissioners chose the high ground on the Elkhart River as the most suitable point, ordered their agent Oliver Crane to lay out a town, and sold the first lots that July. It was incorporated as a town in 1854 and as a city in 1868. That same year a hydraulic canal, dug to carry the river's water past the mills, was finished, and Goshen became a mill and factory town around its courthouse square.

At a glance

Founded

laid out as the county seat, 1831; first lots sold July 1831; town, 1854; city, 1868

Name

Chapman's county history (1881) says Oliver Crane, who came from near Goshen, New York, gave the town its name; the Goshen Historical Society points to the Biblical Land of Goshen, a name for fertile ground

County seat

yes, of Elkhart County since 1831; the courthouse stands on the square downtown

Water power

the hydraulic canal, begun about 1866 and completed in 1868, drew water from the Elkhart River to run flour mills and factories, as Chapman described in 1881

A college

Goshen College, a Mennonite college, dates from 1894

Worth a visit

Through the year

• Goshen First Fridays: Fire & Ice First Friday of January, 5–9 pm
• Quilt Gardens along the Heritage Trail Late May through early fall
• Elkhart County 4-H Fair Late July, nine days
• Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale Last weekend of September, Friday–Saturday
• Goshen Light Parade (First Friday) Friday 6 November, 5–9 pm
• Hometown Holiday (First Friday) Friday 4 December, 5–9 pm

Eat and stay

• South Side Soda Shop & Diner, 1122 S. Main St., Goshen, IN 46526. A retro family diner known for its chili, shakes and malts, and in-house pies, and seen on TV's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The building opened in 1910 as a grocery that also held a post office. It became a soda shop in 1940, closed in the early 1980s, and reopened as the South Side Soda Shop in 1986; the diner-car addition came around 1994.
• Goshen Brewing Company, 315 W. Washington St., Goshen, IN 46526. A riverside brewpub with a beer garden, local food and live music. The brewpub opened in May 2015 in a former office building of the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), and it reused copper left in the building for its beer flights.
• Kercher's Sunrise Orchards, 19498 County Road 38, Goshen, IN 46526. A fall farm stop with apples, pumpkins, a corn maze, wagon rides and a market of homemade goods. The Kercher family came from Ohio in 1851, and William Wheeler Kercher started growing apples commercially on 40 acres in 1922. The fourth generation, Tom and Maureen Kercher, runs the orchard with their children.

More places to eat and stay in the valley ›

Where the records are

Goshen is the county seat, so Elkhart County's deeds, probate, marriage and court records are kept here. The Goshen Public Library's Indiana Room has Goshen newspapers on microfilm from 1837 to 2022, Goshen city directories from 1883 (selected years), an obituary card file from 1970 and a Goshen News index from 2007. The Goshen Historical Society runs a museum at 124 S. Main St. The Elkhart County Historical Museum, 304 W. Vistula St., Bristol, has a research library with plat maps and family records. Chapman's 1881 county history gives the city of Goshen its own long chapter.

Sources

• History of Elkhart County, Indiana (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1881): site chosen as "the most suitable point"; Oliver Crane "coming from the vicinity of Goshen, New York, gave name to the town" (page 393); Crane ordered to lay out the town (page 416); lots sold by Crane in July 1831 (page 884, under "CITY OF GOSHEN"); "THE HYDRAULIC CANAL" (page 905) link
• Goshen Historical Society, "Historical Society History" (platted 1831; town 1854; city 1868; name from the Biblical Land of Goshen; museum at 124 S. Main St.) link
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Goshen" (seat 1831; Goshen College 1894; name probably for Goshen, New York) link
• City of Goshen, "About" (settled 1831; county seat) link
• Goshen Public Library, "Genealogy & Local History" (Indiana Room holdings) link
• Wikipedia, "National Register of Historic Places listings in Elkhart County, Indiana" link
• Elkhart County Parks, "Elkhart County Historical Museum" link

Dates and names are from the county histories and official sources listed here. Where they disagree, we say so. Know better? Send a correction.

The valley map Museums Find a grave or an obituary

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