Cherry Valley is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of that 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, and borders the southeast side of Rockford. It is also within the Kishwaukee River valley. The population is 2,905 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 Kishwaukee River 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 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 car-centric transportation in the latter 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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 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 th ...

) 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. 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 Kishwaukee River 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 states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Illinois and Wisconsin that runs from an interchange at I-55 in Normal, Illinois, to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) approximately south of Wausau, Wisconsin. In to ...

, U.S. Route 20 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 Hi ...

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 chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.06%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.10% Native American, 4.99% Asian, 2.24% from other races, and 7.33% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 7.13% of the population. There were 1,240 households, out of which 15.7% 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 average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

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 ...

, 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 large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

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, formerly Magic Waters, which is owned by Rockford Park District and is managed by

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...

starting 2018.

Transportation

RMTD provides bus service on Route 19 connecting Cherry Valley to Rockford and other destinations. The Union Pacific line to Rockford runs through Cherry Valley.

Notable people

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. A trained architect, Abloh founded his own line of luxury streetwear clothing under the moniker Pyrex Vision in 2012, which he transfor ...

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. In color theory, a ''shade'' is a pure color mi ...

and Pyrex Vision. He was named artistic director for men's wear at Louis Vuitton in 2018 * John Baumgarten. Businessman, Illinois state representative. He served as mayor of Cherry Valley in 1945 * Mo Pitney (born 1993), country music artist

References

External links

Cherry Valley, Illinois, official website

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