Cherry Valley Township’s post office opened in 1849
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #487 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Cherry Valley Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1900.
From Cherry Valley Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Cherry Valley Township began
When was Cherry Valley Township founded?
1849
The Cherry Valley Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Perryville (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 349 in 19002020 census: 19,344177 years
How historic is Cherry Valley Township?
C+
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cherry Valley Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cherry Valley Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cherry Valley Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #487 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cherry Valley Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cherry Valley Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Cherry Valley Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Center SchoolschoolMerritt FarmlocalePowell SchoolschoolShirley SchoolschoolVandercook Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cherry Valley Township
DodgeShirley
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Cherry Valley Township on the map, 1918 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cherry Valley Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Kirkland sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cherry Valley Township.
Timeline
Cherry Valley Township, 1889 to 1976
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Cherry Valley Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cherry Valley Township rank for history?
Cherry Valley Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #487 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Cherry Valley Township?
4% of Cherry Valley Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1978.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1933
1933
1933
2005