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About Goshen, New Hampshire
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Goshen Historical Society
The Goshen Historical Society grew out of the 1969 Bicentennial Committee which was formed to celebrate the 1769 settlement of land that would one day become Goshen. Founding members Arthur Nelson, Walter Nelson, Edith Pike and Mrs. Edwin Baker met in October of 1969 to discuss the possibility of forming an historical society, and the first official meeting of the Goshen Historical Society took place on December 8, 1969, at the Olive G. Pettis Library. At this first meeting it was reported that application had been made to the Secretary of State to incorporate, and they also adopted bylaws for the Society. They met again on January 12, 1970, to accept charter members and elect officers.
The first major project of this new organization was to sponsor a Goshen Old Home Day, which became the foremost activity of the Society for over thirty-five years. Other projects through the years included:
- Collecting names for the Goshen War Memorial and erecting the monument in front of the library
- A search for Goshen’s oldest cemetery on the Province Road, which uncovered its location in 1973, 75 yards beyond the intersection of Cross and Province Roads
- Publishing A Supplemental History of Goshen, New Hampshire in 1976 covering the years 1955-1975 as an update to the 1954 History of Goshen, New Hampshire by Walter R. Nelson
- Publication of Foundations of Old Goshen, the Building of the Goshen Meeting House, Sweetwater Mill
- Placing a plaque on the Gunnison house on Center Road in 1981
- Mapping Goshen’s plank houses and securing their placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983
- Mapping Goshen’s old mill sites
- The 2003 Goshen Oral History of WWII project which interviewed the veterans whose names are on the Ware Memorial in front of the library
- Collecting photographs of Goshen people, places, and events, past and present
- Collecting oral histories of Goshen residents
- Documentation and storage of historical artifacts
- Upon completion of the work on the Grange Building in 2022, designated the second floor as a space for use by the Goshen Historical Society. The Historical Society also donated the windows to the restored Grange Hall
The Historical Society’s work continues with new members taking up the research and active work of the founding and previous members. If you are interested in joining the Historical Society or have information regarding the history of Goshen that you believe should be included in our work please contact us by clicking this link.