Goshen was a pioneer town in western

Whatcom County Whatcom County (, ) is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the Canadian province of British Columbia to t ...

(approximately northeast of Bellingham, and south of the US border with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

). Goshen was a logging and farming community. The town was a stop on the rail line of the

Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad was built in the northwestern part of Washington, between the town of Whatcom, now Bellingham, then to the town of Sumas, to connect with the Canadian Pacific Railway for a continental connection. H ...

. At one point Goshen hoped to compete with Whatcom (now Bellingham) and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

for the western depot of the railroad line which was being laid north to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

State, which would guarantee economic investment and much traffic. Tacoma won the contest. The name remains in Goshen Road and, a short distance to the west, Everson-Goshen Road.

References

Ghost towns in Whatcom County, Washington Ghost towns in Washington (state) Geography of Whatcom County, Washington {{Ghost-town-stub

See also

References