Editing Goshen, Indiana (section)

==History==
Before the arrival of white colonists, the land that is today Goshen, Indiana, was populated by Native Americans, specifically the [[Miami people]], the [[Peoria people]], and [[Potawatomi]] peoples. These people inhabited this land for thousands of years.<ref name="History">{{cite web | url=http://www.pokagon.com/our-culture/history | title=History | publisher=Pokagon Band of Potawatomi | access-date=August 18, 2019 | archive-date=August 18, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818162920/http://www.pokagon.com/our-culture/history | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1830, the US Congress passed the [[Indian Removal Act]], requiring all indigenous people to relocate west of the Mississippi River.

Goshen was [[plat]]ted in 1831.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofelkhart00inchic |title=History of Elkhart County, Indiana |publisher=Chas. C. Chapman Co. |year=1881 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofelkhart00inchic/page/884 884]}}</ref> It was named after the [[Land of Goshen]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ |title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States |publisher=Govt. Print. Off. |author=Gannett, Henry |year=1905 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n139 140]}}</ref> The initial settlers consisted entirely of old stock "[[Yankee]]" immigrants, who were descended from the English [[Puritans]] who settled New England in the 1600s.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The [[New England]] [[Yankee]] population that founded towns such as Goshen considered themselves the "chosen people," and identified with the Israelites of the [[Old Testament]] and they thought of North America as their [[Canaan]]. They founded a large number of towns and counties across what is known as the [[Northern Tier (United States)|Northern Tier]] of the upper midwest. It was in this context that Goshen was named.<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Yankee Exodus: An Account of Migration from New England'' by Stewart Hall Holbrook University of Washington Press, 1968</ref><ref>''American Zion: The Old Testament as a Political Text from the Revolution to ...'' By Eran Shalev, Yale University Press, March 26, 2013 {{ISBN|9780300186925}} page 70–71</ref>

The Yankee migration to Indiana was a result of several factors, one of which was the overpopulation of New England. The old-stock Yankee population had large families, often bearing up to ten children in one household. Most people were expected to have their own piece of land to farm, and due to the massive and nonstop population boom, land in New England became scarce as every son claimed his own farmstead. As a result, there was not enough land for every family to have a self-sustaining farm, and Yankee settlers began leaving New England for the [[Midwestern United States]].<ref name="ReferenceB">''A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Elkhart County, Indiana'', edited by Anthony Deahl, Lewis Publishing Company, 1905</ref>

They were aided in this effort by the construction and completion of the [[Erie Canal]] which made traveling to the region much easier, causing an additional surge in migrants coming from New England.  Added to this was the end of the [[Black Hawk War]], which made the region much safer for white settlers to travel through and settle in. However, the Black Hawk War also forced the native people who called Goshen home for so long to leave. The [[1833 Treaty of Chicago]] ultimately set the conditions that would force the Potawatomi in particular to leave the Midwest, Goshen included, in 1837. This forced exile is known today as the [[Potawatomi Trail of Death]].<ref name="History" />

These settlers were primarily members of the [[Congregational church|Congregational Church]], though due to the [[Second Great Awakening]], many of them had converted to [[Methodism]], and some had become [[Baptists]] before coming to what is now Indiana. The Congregational Church has subsequently gone through many divisions, and some factions, including those in Goshen, are now known as the [[Church of Christ]] and the [[United Church of Christ]].<ref name="ReferenceB" /> When the New Englanders arrived in what is now Elkhart County there was nothing but a dense virgin forest and wild prairie. They laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings, and established post routes.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref name="ReferenceB" />

[[File:1965 Elkhart Double Tornado-Palm Sunday.jpg|thumb|right|This double tornado hit the Midway Trailer Court northwest of Goshen on U.S. 33, Palm Sunday, 1965.<br /><small>This image has been [[commons:Commons:Deletion requests/File:1965 Elkhart Double Tornado-Palm Sunday.jpg|nominated for deletion as a potential copyright violation]].</small>]]
On Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, a [[1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak|large outbreak of tornadoes]] struck the Midwest. The most famous pair of tornadoes devastated the Midway Trailer Park (now inside the city limits of Goshen), and the Sunnyside Housing Addition in Dunlap, Indiana. Another, smaller F4 tornado also struck neighborhoods on the southeast side of Goshen on the same day. Statewide, 137 Hoosiers died in the storms—55 of them in Elkhart County. Days later, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] visited the Dunlap site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/events/1965palmsun_torn2.htm|title=Weather Events: 1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak Part II: Sunday Evening|website=Islandnet.com|access-date=August 27, 2017}}</ref>

The Goshen Historic District, added in 1983 to the National Register of Historic Places<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/IN/Elkhart/districts.html |title=National Register of Historical Places - INDIANA (IN), Elkhart County|website=Nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com |access-date=August 27, 2017}}</ref> is bounded by Pike, RR, Cottage, Plymouth, Main, Purl, the Canal, and Second Sts. with the Elkhart County Courthouse at its center.

In April 2006, Goshen was the site of an immigration march. Officials estimated that from 2,000 to 3,000 people marched from Linway Plaza to the County Courthouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goshen.edu/bulletin/Current_Issue/features/fuerza|title=Bulletin Issue Archives - News & Events - Goshen College|website=News & Events|access-date=August 27, 2017}}</ref>

Goshen has been called a "[[sundown town]]", and African Americans were allegedly prevented from living in, or entering, the town, under threat of violence. However, there was never a city ordinance or official policy to enforce such a restriction. Nevertheless, in March 2015, the city issued a formal apology for racial discrimination in the past. A documentary made at Goshen College, ''Goshen: A Sundown Town's Transformation'', tells the story of why Goshen has been called a sundown town.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The [[Elkhart County Courthouse]], [[Fort Wayne Street Bridge]], [[Goshen Carnegie Public Library]], [[Goshen Historic District (Goshen, Indiana)|Goshen Historic District]], [[William N. Violett House]], and [[Violett-Martin House and Gardens]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a|dateform=mdy}}</ref>