Goldendale is a city and county chair of Klickitat County, Washington, United States, near the Columbia River Gorge. The population within city limits was 3,760 at the 2000 census and 3,407 at the 2010 census, a 9.4% decrease. It is situated in a primarily agricultural area and is also near Goldendale Observatory State Park. The valley in which Goldendale is located offers views of the Cascade Mountains to the west and the Simcoe Hills to the north.

In 1859 the town was conclusive its herald by the further on homesteader John Golden, a Pennsylvania-born farmer who settled once his wife from Oregon. His home at Columbus Street and Collins Street remains standing in downtown Goldendale. The town was designated as the county chair of Klickitat County in 1878. Goldendale was officially incorporated upon November 14, 1879. Much of the juvenile town, including the county courthouse, was destroyed in a devastating fire on May 13, 1888.

On June 9, 1918, William Wallace Campbell, director of the Lick Observatory, and astronomer Heber Curtis journeyed to Goldendale to view a total solar eclipse. The aspire of the observation was to photograph the sun’s corona and the apparent tainted placement of stars due to the sun’s gravitational pull upon those star’s rays while passing by the sun. Lacking proper equipment and instead by yourself using complex cameras Campbell and Curtis were unable to announce stars’ deflection. However, by November 1919, their efforts would be vindicated by British astronomers and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was confirmed. Goldendale was also under the lane of totality for another sum eclipse upon February 26, 1979, which drew thousands of visitors to the Goldendale Observatory.

In 2008 Goldendale hosted the International Gravity Sports Association’s ‘Festival of Speed,’ on a segment of the historic Maryhill highway.