Goldendale is a city and county seat 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 close 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 1872 the town was unadulterated its proclaim by the to the fore homesteader John Golden, a Pennsylvania-born farmer who settled in the same way as his wife from Oregon. His home at Columbus Street and Collins Street remains standing in downtown Goldendale. The town was designated as the county seat of Klickitat County in 1878. Goldendale was officially incorporated upon November 14, 1879. Much of the pubescent town, including the county courthouse, was destroyed in a devastating blaze 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 sum solar eclipse. The plan of the observation was to photograph the sun’s corona and the apparent misrepresented placement of stars due to the sun’s gravitational pull upon those star’s rays even if passing by the sun. Lacking proper equipment and instead single-handedly using fused cameras Campbell and Curtis were unable to pronounce 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 below the path of totality for another total 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.

Goldendale has remained the employment, business, commercial and banking center for the valley and, as the county seat, is the location for Klickitat County’s courts and dispensation offices. In recent years this little community has suffered from sharp economic decline. After a local aluminum tree-plant that in the same way as employed many residents closed, the little community struggled economically. The loss of tax base has taken its toll upon the funds within reach for maintaining the city’s infrastructure. In recent years there has been an interest in installing wind turbines that would generate power. While it has provided some jobs, this industry has not been the economic solution for which many residents hoped.^{[citation needed]}