Goshen, Virginia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Goshen, Virginia
Town
Houses in Goshen in winter
Location of Goshen, Virginia
Country	United States
State	Virginia
County	Rockbridge
Government
• Type	Mayoral system with a local five member council
Area
• Total	1.79 sq mi (4.63 km2)
• Land	1.73 sq mi (4.48 km2)
• Water	0.06 sq mi (0.15 km2)
Elevation	1,404 ft (428 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	361
• Estimate  (2019)	368
• Density	212.96/sq mi (82.22/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code	24439
Area code(s)	540
FIPS code	51-31968
GNIS feature ID	1494961
Website	Official website: http://goshenvirginia.com/

Goshen is a small town located in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States. In 2010, about 361 people lived there.

The town is well-known for being home to the Goshen Scout Reservation. This is one of the largest Boy Scout camps in all of America.

History of Goshen

Goshen was once home to Native American tribes like the Cherokee and Shawnee. In the 1700s, European settlers began to arrive. Alexander Dunlop and his wife Anna MacFarlane were among the first to move to the Calfpasture area. Other early settlers included families named Bratton, Lockridge, Graham, Carter, and Davis. The first local council in Goshen was formed in 1744. It was led by James Patton and John Lewis.

Early Goshen was mostly made up of farms, much like it is today. Farmers mainly grew corn. Even though it was mostly farmland, in the 1800s, the Goshen Pass and Panther's Gap areas were busy communities. They had a school, a hotel, a post office, and places where metal was made (foundries).

The Alleghany Hotel was built by the Goshen Improvement Company. This company chose Goshen station in 1890 as a place to build a new city. The hotel was first known as a "house of entertainment." However, a few years before it burned down, it was renamed the Alleghany Sanitarium. It was used to house people with tuberculosis. On Thanksgiving Day in 1922, the Alleghany Hotel caught fire. It burned for two and a half hours until it was completely destroyed. At that time, Goshen did not have a fire department to help put out the flames.

The Goshen Land Company Bridge is an important historical structure. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This means it is a place considered worthy of saving because of its historical importance.

Geography and Rivers

Goshen is located in Virginia. The town covers an area of about 1.7 square miles (4.5 square kilometers). All of this area is land.

The Calfpasture River flows right through Goshen. Just after passing through the town, it joins with the Little Calfpasture River. Together, these two rivers form the Maury River.

People of Goshen

In the year 2000, there were 406 people living in Goshen. These people lived in 179 different homes. About 107 of these homes were families.

Most of the people in Goshen were White (96.31%). A smaller number were African American (3.69%).

About 23.6% of the people were under 18 years old. About 16.7% were 65 years old or older. The average age of people in Goshen was 38 years.

Local Publications

If you want to read about Goshen and the surrounding area, here are some local publications:

• The News-Gazette (a newspaper published every week)
• The Rockbridge Advocate (a magazine published once a month)
• The Rockbridge Report (a website and cable TV show made by students at Washington and Lee University)
• Rockbridge Weekly (another newspaper published every week)

Climate

The weather in Goshen has hot and humid summers. The winters are usually mild to cool. This type of weather is known as a humid subtropical climate. On climate maps, it is often shown as "Cfa."

See also

In Spanish: Goshen (Virginia) para niños