5 Things You Didn’t Know About: Cherry Valley, Illinois
Cherry Valley is one of the finalists in the 2017 Small Town Showdown. Here are some cool facts that show why Cherry Valley deserves your vote.
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Thinkstock 1Cherry Valley's name was picked out of a hat
In the town's early days it was called Griggs Ford (after its first settler, Joseph Griggs) and Graball. When the community decided to change the name, they asked people to put a suggest on paper and drop it in a hat. A woman from Cherry Valley, New York put in her suggestion and the rest is history as they say.
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Getty Images 2Home to oldest family owned Harley-Davidson Dealer
Cherry Valley's Kegel Harley-Davidson dealership is 105 years-old and the history of the dealership is quite a read.
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Thinkstock 3No municipal property tax
Because of a 1% sales tax collected from Cherryvale Mall, from one of the first enclosed shopping malls in Illinois, Cherry Valley is one of the few communities in Illinois that doesn't levy a municipal property tax
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Getty Images 4Birthplace of Curb Records recording artist Mo Pitney
Morgan Daniel "Mo" Pitney was born in 1993. After moving to Nashville, he signed to Curb Records in 2014. Mo released his first album, Behind This Guitar, in 2016. The album hit #10 on the Billboard Country Music Album chart in its first week.
- Jennifer Dodge
Jennifer Dodge 5Cherry Valley was once called 'Grab All"
Around the time Cherry Valley was settled, just over a mile up the Kishwaukee River was a settlement called Newburg (where Newburg Rd. crosses the Kishwaukee River now). Both settlements wanted a railroad stop in their town but a group of Belvedere business men decided to build the station in Cherry Valley leaving Newburg a mile away from the station. The people of Newburg were upset and started referring to Cherry Valley (named Butler at the time) as 'Grab All.'
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