CHAPTER XVI
.
TOWN OF GOSHEN.
By George F. Gregg.
Northwest, sixty miles by rail from New York City, sixteen miles in an air line west from the Hudson River, lies Goshen, the county seat of Orange County, located in the geographical center of that civic sub-division. The town derives its name from the Goshen of Biblical memory. Almost two centuries ago the first of the settlers came. The native beauty of the place appealed to the calm and dauntless spirits of these men, who had plunged boldly into a benighted and unknown country. They stood upon the wooded hills and looked with glad eyes upon the fertile, fruitful valley. All around about them lay the land of their desire, and they called it Goshen, the "promised land" of the Scriptures.
The town, which was first known by this name in 1714, was originally much larger than at present. Its boundaries were defined by law in 1788. A part of Hamptonburgh was taken from it in 1830, and a part of Chester in 1845. Other changes of boundaries were made at different times, as recited elsewhere in this article. It has a population to-day in town and village slightly in excess of 5,000.
The section is known for the great fertility of its soil. It is in the heart of a noted dairying country, and as long ago as Revolutionary days Goshen butter was widely famed. Butter making has practically ceased now, but the milk production is large. The town is also noted for the onions and celery raised on its black dirt meadows, as well as for the grass crops grown on its fertile farms.
The village is located on the main line of the Erie Railroad, and has direct connection with New England cities by way of the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. It is also the terminus of the Montgomery & Erie, the Goshen & Deckertown, and the Lehigh & New England Railroads. It is handsomely laid out with broad, well-kept and well-shaded streets of smooth macadam. It has three public school buildings, and Garr Institute, a parochial school, conducted under the direction of St. John's Church. It has six churches: The First Presbyterian, organized in 1720; St. James' Episcopal, dating back to 1796; St. John the Evangelist, Roman Catholic, founded in 1820; the Methodist Episcopal, organized in 1847; the A. U. M. P. Church, and Olivet Chapel, a Presbyterian colored mission. It has two national banks and a savings bank, two newspapers, gas and electric lighting companies, a waterworks system, and first-class hotels and clubs. Its fire department is made up of three volunteer companies, Cataract Engine and Hose, organized in 1843; Dikeman Hose, organized in 1872, and Minisink Hook and Ladder, organized in 1906, upon the disbanding of Elliott H. and L., which was organized in 1871. Leading to the village from almost every direction are improved roads, maintained under State supervision.
[Illustration: George F. Gregg.]
No mention of the town, past or present, would be complete, without reference to the trotting-horse industry. It began in 1803, when Imp. Messenger, acknowledged head of the trotting family, stood at Goshen Down through all the years trotting horses were bred and raised there, and even in this day and generation the horse interests are chief among the interests of the town. In the center of the village is located the finest half-mile track in the country and many famous horses are trained there.
Every foot of its ground is historic. In the far-gone years red men roamed its landscape and predatory beasts lurked in the shadows of its primeval timber lands. It was one of the early settlements made on that vast tract to which Governor Nicolls referred when he wrote in 1664: "The lands which I intend shall be first planted are those upon the west bank of Hudson's River." Shortly after the first settlement a bounty was placed on wolves and the Governor recommended its payment to the House of Lords.