Cherry Valley is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of in the

Kishwaukee River The Kishwaukee River, locally known as simply The Kish, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Illinois.. United States Board on G ...

valley, which lies primarily in Winnebago County. Approximately ten percent of the village is within Boone County. The village is within the Rockford, Illinois

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

, and borders the southeast side of Rockford. The population is 2905 at the 2020 census, down from 3,162 as of the 2010 census.

History

Official documents from the Winnebago County Clerk's office and the Village of Cherry Valley state Cherry Valley was settled in 1836. The first settler within Cherry Valley was Joseph Griggs who, along with his family, settled on the north bank of the

in 1835. Cherry Valley was incorporated as a village on January 31, 1857. Early landmark events for Cherry Valley was the establishment of a mill on the Kishwaukee River, and the coming of the railroad in 1852.Cherry Valley Library web page
Retrieved on March 8, 2007 Early on Cherry Valley was called by various names, such as "Griggs Ford" and ''Graball'', and then other names, before the present name was adopted. After deciding to change the name, the people put their suggestions into a hat. A Mrs. Butler, from

Cherry Valley, New York Cherry Valley is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Otsego County, New York, Otsego County, New York (state), New York, United States. According to the 2020 US census, the village of Cherry Valley had a population of 487. Howeve ...

placed the name of Cherry Valley in the hat and that name was selected.Cherry Valley Historical Society, as included in Cherry Valley.org
Retrieved on March 1, 2007 The core of the village, centered on its main street businesses in small brick buildings, is surrounded by several blocks of houses built in the 19th century. This late 19th-century appearance is further accentuated by turn-of-the-20th-century-style lamp lights as well as the original brick paving along the eastern end of main street.
Retrieved on March 8, 2007

Relationship with Rockford

Although close to Rockford, Cherry Valley was far enough away to be considered, for most of its history, not a part of the Rockford community. However, with the advent of modern transportation in the later 20th century, Cherry Valley became in essence a suburb of Rockford. As the city of Rockford grew and expanded its boundaries, it came in direct contact with Cherry Valley. Since that time, there have been land control-related issues between the two municipalities. For the most part, these issues have been resolved with a boundary agreement between the two communities.

Cherry Valley today

In the last dozen years Cherry Valley has seen a shift towards

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, with roughly a third of its new residents being former Chicago suburban residents who live in the village and commute to work in the Chicago suburbs. Being near to an interchange on I-90 (

Jane Addams Memorial Tollway Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the ...

) contributed to this shift, and in 2006 the toll booths on the Cherry Valley interchange and exit were removed because of increased traffic flow and the need to remove the chronic traffic jams that had built over the years.press release from Toll authority on Cherry Valley exit
Retrieved on March 8, 2007 Most of Cherry Valley is within the Rockford School District, with a small portion in the Belvidere School District. Schools closed and demolished in 2019, Cherry Valley Elementary School web page, Retrieved on June 17, 2007

Geography

The core of the village is located a little north of the confluence of the north and south branches of the Kishwaukee river.Winnebago Co. related web page with information about rivers
Retrieved on March 8, 2007 There is a slight depression as one moves towards the center of the village, which is a formation of the Kishwaukee river valley.
Retrieved on March 8, 2007 According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Cherry Valley has a total area of , of which (or 97.09%) is land and (or 2.91%) is water. The north branch of the

travels through Cherry Valley's central business district. The largest body of water in the village is Cherry Valley Lake which is situated just east of the Kishwaukee River in Baumann Park. The village is served by

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. I- ...

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

and

U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south-north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Highw ...

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 2,905 people, 1,240 households, and 739 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,338 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 82.27%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 3.06%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.10% Native American, 4.99%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 2.24% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 7.33% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 7.13% of the population. There were 1,240 households, out of which 26.69% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.48% were married couples living together, 11.77% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.40% were non-families. 28.23% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.85% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.21. The village's age distribution consisted of 13.3% under the age of 18, 2.5% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 36.8% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. The median income for a household in the village was $68,397, and the median income for a family was $79,750. Males had a median income of $47,663 versus $40,228 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $35,460. About 3.4% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over. Cherry Valley has the highest income and education levels of any community within the Rockford metropolitan area.

Development and growth

Key to the village economy is million square foot CherryVale Mall, one of the first enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s in Illinois. CherryVale, which draws shoppers from a radius of over , produces the greatest single source of revenue for the village, in the form of a 1% sales tax that is levied and collected by the State of Illinois and then distributed to the community. Because of this sales tax, Cherry Valley is one of only a handful of communities within Illinois that does not levy a municipal property tax. Another notable commercial enterprise in Cherry Valley is the Kegel Motorcycle Company, which has a strong claim to being the world's oldest Harley-Davidson dealership. The town is home to

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford (formerly known as Magic Waters) is a water park owned by the Rockford Park District and operated by Six Flags. It is located in Cherry Valley, Winnebago County, Illinois, and located next to the interchange b ...

, formerly Magic Waters, which is owned by

Rockford Park District The Rockford Park District was formed in 1909 and is governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners who serve six-year terms without compensation. It is the third largest municipal park system in Illinois, serving the communities of Roc ...

and is managed by

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amu ...

starting 2018.

Notable people

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilitie ...

is a DJ and fashion designer, with notable brands

Off-White Shades of white are colors that differ only slightly from pure white. Variations of white include what are commonly termed off-white colors, which may be considered part of a neutral color scheme or yellow that looks like brown. In color theo ...

and Pyrex Vision. On March 26, 2018, he was named artistic director for men's wear at Louis Vuitton. * John Baumgarten. Businessman, Illinois state representative. He served as mayor of Cherry Valley in 1945. Baumgarten died at

Swedish American Hospital SwedishAmerican Hospital is a 357-bed non profit, teaching hospital located in Rockford, Illinois. The hospital is a division of UW Health. The hospital was founded in 1911, opening its doors in 1918 following a period of fund raising. In the mid ...

in Rockford, Illinois *

Mo Pitney Morgan Daniel Pitney (born March 24, 1993 in Cherry Valley, Illinois) is an American country music singer. In May 2014, he signed to Curb Records. He has released two studio albums: ''Behind This Guitar'' (2016), and ''Ain't Lookin' Back'' (202 ...

(born 1993), country music artist

References

External links

Cherry Valley, Illinois, official website

{{Authority control Villages in Illinois Villages in Winnebago County, Illinois Villages in Boone County, Illinois Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois Populated places established in 1835 1835 establishments in Illinois