[7] The city is known as a prominent recreational vehicle and accessories manufacturing center, the home of Goshen College, a small Mennonite liberal arts college, and the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, one of the largest county fairs in the United States.

[9] In 1830, the US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, requiring all indigenous people to relocate west of the Mississippi River.

[11] The initial settlers consisted entirely of old stock "Yankee" immigrants, who were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England in the 1600s.

[12] 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 of the upper midwest.

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.

[14] 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.

[9] These settlers were primarily members of the 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.

[14] 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.

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.

The Elkhart County Courthouse, Fort Wayne Street Bridge, Goshen Carnegie Public Library, Goshen Historic District, William N. Violett House, and Violett-Martin House and Gardens are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

City government has responded to the increase in severe weather such as flooding, hail, and heavy rains with measures including stormwater management, and "an initiative to grow the town's tree canopy by 45%."

Goshen outranked Phoenix, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver with its 2019 production of 116 watts of solar power per capita.

There are automotive component manufacturers such as Benteler; firms that build custom bodies onto chassis such as Supreme, Independent Protection, and Showhauler Trucks.

The youth advisor position was added in 2016 and is elected by the students of Goshen High School.

Gina Leichty, a member of the Democratic Party, is the first woman to become Mayor of Goshen in its 192-year history.

Stutsman left the mayorship to be CEO of a local nonprofit housing agency, LaCasa.

Goshen College, located on the south side of town, has an enrollment of approximately 773, with 37% male and 63% female.

The Interurban Trolley bus connects Goshen to the nearby city of Elkhart and the unincorporated town of Dunlap via Concord and Elkhart-Goshen routes.

[34] The Pumpkinvine Nature Trail runs from Goshen to Middlebury and Shipshewana, along the former Pumpkin Vine Railroad.

[37] Lonesome Jim (2005) which was written by former resident James Strouse, directed by Steve Buscemi and starred Liv Tyler and Casey Affleck, was shot in Goshen.