Cherry Valley, Illinois

Coordinates: 42°14′05″N 88°56′56″W / 42.23472°N 88.94889°W / 42.23472; -88.94889

Cherry Valley
Village
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Winnebago, Boone
Townships	Cherry Valley, Rockford, Belvidere, Flora
Elevation	728 ft (222 m)
Coordinates	42°14′05″N 88°56′56″W / 42.23472°N 88.94889°W / 42.23472; -88.94889
Area	9.9 sq mi (26 km2)
- land	9.7 sq mi (25 km2)
- water	0.2 sq mi (1 km2)
Population	3,162 (2010)
Density	583.3 / sq mi (225 / km2)
Village President	Jim E. Claeyssen
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	61016
Area code	815
Location of Cherry Valley within Illinois
Wikimedia Commons: Cherry Valley, Illinois
Website: http://www.cherryvalley.org/homeframe.htm

The village of Cherry Valley, Illinois is a community of 8.72 square miles (22.6 km²) located in the Kishwaukee River valley, which lies primarily in Winnebago County, but approximately ten percent of the Village is located in Boone County. The village is within the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, and borders the southeast side of Rockford. The population is 3,162 as of the 2010 Federal Census census, up from 2,191 at the 2000 census. ^[1]

History

Official documents from the Winnebago County Clerk's office and the Village of Cherry Valley state Cherry Valley was settled in 1835. The first settler was Joseph Griggs.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[2]

Cherry Valley was originally called Griggs Ford, and then other names, none of which were found suitable.^{[by whom?]} Accordingly the leaders in the village decided to change the name; people could make choices and put their suggestions in a hat. A Mrs. Butler, from Cherry Valley, New York placed the name of Cherry Valley in the hat and that name won.^[3] 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 1800s. This late 19th century appearance is further accentuated by turn of the century style lamp lights as well as the original brick paving along the eastern end of main street.^[4]

Relationship with Rockford

Although located 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. Ultimately these "issues" culminated in a boundary agreement between the two communities in 1991.^{[citation needed]} The boundary agreement is scheduled to expire in August 2011.

Cherry Valley today

In the last dozen years Cherry Valley has seen a shift towards Chicago, 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) 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.^[5]

Cherry Valley was the first community in the area to implement a comprehensive, curb side recycling program for all its residents.^{[citation needed]} It was also the first community in the area to require full urban improvements for all new subdivisions (sanitary sewer, municipal water, curb, gutters, sidewalks, etc.)^{[citation needed]} Cherry Valley was also the first community in the region to require subdivison developers to dedicated land or fees for the development of parks and open space.^{[citation needed]}

Most of Cherry Valley is within the Rockford School District, with a small portion in the Belvidere School District. There is only one school within the village center, which is named Cherry Valley Elementary, taking children in grades 3 through 5, with village children in grades K-2 going to White Swan Elementary outside the village center.^[6]

Geography

The core of the village is located a little north of the confluence of the north and south branches of the Kishwaukee river.^[7] There is a slight depression as one moves towards the center of the village, which is a formation of the Kishwaukee river valley.^[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), of which, 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (1.31%) 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 39, U.S. Route 20 and U.S. Route 51.

Annexations in 2007, to the southwest of the village along the Kishwaukee River, have increased the total area of the village to 7.44 square miles (19.3 km²).^{[citation needed]}

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 2,191 people, 857 households, and 623 families residing in the village. The population density was 583.3 people per square mile (225.0/km²). There were 887 housing units at an average density of 236.1 per square mile (91.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.98% White, 1.69% African American, 0.18% Native American, 2.56% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.87% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.19% of the population.

There were 857 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the village the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $59,871, and the median income for a family was $70,833. Males had a median income of $50,943 versus $29,153 for females. The per capita income for the village was $23,725. About 4.7% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 2.0% 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 malls in Illinois. CherryVale, which draws shoppers from a radius of over 50 miles (80 km), 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.^[10]

Also located in the village is Magic Waters Waterpark, the largest water park in Illinois.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ City data. 2000 census information Retrieved on June 07, 2007
2. ^ Cherry Valley Library web page Retrieved on March 8, 2007
3. ^ Cherry Valley Historical Society, as included in Cherry Valley.org Retrieved on March 1, 2007
4. ^ VisitIllinois page with description of Cherry Valley Retrieved on March 8, 2007
5. ^ press release fromToll authority on Cherry Valley exit Retrieved on March 8, 2007
6. ^ [1], Cherry Valley Elementary School web page, Retrieved on June 17, 2007
7. ^ Winnebago Co. related web page with information about rivers Retrieved on March 8, 2007
8. ^ Illinois DNR document describing the terrain and valleys along the Kishwaukee river Retrieved on March 8, 2007
9. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
10. ^ "Kegel History". Archived from the original on 2008-07-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20080716011255/http://www.kegelmotorcycles.com/html/kegel_history.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20. 

External links

• Cherry Valley, Illinois, official website
• Cherry Valley's Annual Festival held in August
• Cherry Valley Public Library District
• Cherry Valley Historical Society
• Cherry Valley Local History Collection at the Illinois Digital Archives
• Cherry Valley Fire Protection District
• Magic Waters Waterpark; Illinois' largest waterpark
• CherryVale Mall, Cherry Valley, IL
• Webshot Photos of Cherry Valley, IL
• Flickr Photos of Cherry Valley, IL