The History of Cherry Valley, NY

The Cherry Valley Historic District is historically and architecturally significant as an intact concentration of historic buildings, sites and streetscapes which together chronicle the development of a regionally important center of transportation, commerce, industry and agriculture in central New York State between 1778 and 1928.

Settled in the mid-eighteenth century on New York's western frontier, Cherry Valley assumed strategic significance during the Revolutionary War and following its destruction in 1778 was quickly rebuilt. The village grew to dominate trade and commerce within a large region southwest of the Mohawk Valley and flourished in the early nineteenth century as a key junction in the state's burgeoning network of turnpikes. Later in the century, the village became a regional center of manufacturing and still later it prospered as a leading center of the state's lucrative hops industry. Prosperity returned to the village briefly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as it cultivated a small but successful tourist trade. The layered history of the village is traced by sites and monuments commemorating its earliest history and by its historic architecture, which includes significant examples of eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century stylistic expressions from each phase in the development of the village. The Cherry Valley Historic District also includes examples of vernacular building traditions, including a number of distinctive commercial and industrial buildings constructed of native limestone. The diversity of architecture, compact siting within the business district, and the presence of numerous historic trees along the residential avenues combine in Cherry Valley to create a rich, well-preserved historic environment.

In 1738 a grant of 7 acres was made by George II to John Lindesay, a Scotsman, who settled here in 1739. Other settlers followed, among them the Rev. Samuel Donlop, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, who, by 1743, had established the first classical school and the first English speaking church west of the Hudson. Donlop named the settlement Cherry Valley because of the abundance of wild cherry trees. By the opening of the Revolution, the population had increased to over three hundred.

Cherry Valley's position on the western frontier made it necessary to protect the settlement. During the French and Indian War a company of rangers was maintained here. In 1778 General Lafayette ordered a fort to be built near the cemetery and placed Col. Ichabod Alden in command. On November 11, 1778, about seven hundred Senecas and Tories under Captain Walter Butler and Joseph Brant attacked the village and succeeded in killing or capturing most of the population. This period of village history is recalled only by the cemetery, in which are buried the remains of victims of the massacre and veterans of the Revolutionary War. The survivors returned and rapidly built the largest settlement southwest of the Mohawk River. In 1795 the Cherry Valley Academy was reestablished and placed in the charge of the Reverend Solomon Spaulding, author of the Biblical romance which was later used by Joseph Smith as the basis of Mormonism. Afterwards, the Reverend Eliphalet Nott, later president of Union College, took charge of both the school and the Presbyterian Church.

In 1799 Cherry Valley became the junction and terminus for three successive Great Western turnpikes. The first company of the Great Western Turnpike, chartered in 1799, built a 52-mile road from Albany to Cherry Valley. The second company, chartered in 1801, continued the road from Cherry Valley through Cooperstown, then westward to Sherburne on the Chenango River. The third company, chartered in 1803, built the branch from Cherry Valley through Cazenovia to Manlius, where it intersected the Seneca Turnpike.

Cherry Valley's success and growth in the early nineteenth century was a result of its position at the intersection of these great turnpikes. Many immigrants funneled through the village on their way westward and merchants, professionals, and craftsmen gravitated to the village to supply the traveler's demand. The road provided business for numerous blacksmiths and at least fifteen taverns and hotels. A number of long-distance stagelines ran from eastern New York through Cherry Valley to Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and west. Eight local stage lines connected Cherry Valley to towns as far away as Catskill and Utica. During this period a fire company was started, the National Central Bank (on Main Street) was founded, a common district school was opened, the Cherry Valley Gazette was first published, and four companies of infantry and three of artillery were maintained. The village had a marble works, cabinet maker, iron and brass foundries, tanneries, distilleries, and hat and last factories. The turnpikes continued as the main arteries of trade and transportation until the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Utica to Schenectady branch of the New York Central Railroad in 1836. The Canal and the railroad diverted much of the trade back to the Mohawk Valley.

This period of growth and prosperity is evident in the numerous Federal period houses in the Cherry Valley Historic District and the exceptional quality of their architecture. Among these are the Campbell House (#8 Montgomery), built in 1800, the home of Dr. William Campbell, a physician, who helped lay out the turnpike and ran several surveys for the new road. He served as director for the turnpikes and in 1815 was elected to the New York State Assembly. His house is a three-bay, two-story, brick Federal style residence with one-story wings. The cornices form a pediment on the facing gable and the lintels over the windows and French doors in the first floor are incised stone. The Morse House (#17 Montgomery Street), built c.1790, was the home of Judge James Morse. His cousin, Samuel F.B. Morse, painted while visiting and carried out experiments leading to the development of the telegraph. Alpha Delta Phi fraternity was also started in this house. The Morse House is a five-bay, double-pile, Federal house with the original twelve-over-twelve windows and a later Greek Revival portico over the entrance. Another prominent house in the Cherry Valley Historic District at #41 Main Street was the home of Dr. Delos White, a prominent physician and head of the anatomy department at Fairfield College. This house features a two-story center structure flanked by two-one-story wings. The building is divided into six blind arcades by pilasters supporting elliptical arches. The original arched-roofed portico with Federal fretwork remains. A third important building from this period is the Cherry Valley National Bank (#16 Main Street), built in 1815. This bank was the first in Otsego County and symbolized the important commercial influence of the community during that period. It is built of limestone and features an unusual classical portico. The doorway has an arched fanlight with molding which is repeated on the facade of the portico with an added keystone. This in turn is surmounted by one full and one broken stone pediment.

After the opening of the Erie Canal, Cherry Valley's influence in state matters declined and its development resembled that of other crossroads towns. The village continued to grow, but that growth was in the context of the development of the region. It provided essential services within a limited locale such as milling, blacksmithing, tanning, and lodging, and it served as a center for health care, education, and worship. The Episcopal Church (1846) and the Presbyterian Church (1873) are notable examples of religious buildings. The former is an example of Gothic in its first phase, being a small-scale, frame building with arches in relief along the cornice and prominent wood moldings around the Gothic arch windows. The latter, in contrast, is an excellent example of the Victorian Gothic style, large in scale and built in limestone with brownstone trim and a polychrome slate roof. The Cherry Valley Men's Academy (#48 Alden) and Kateri Hall at 11 Church Street recall the role of education within the village.

Cherry Valley was the home of several industries which had regional influence until the Civil War. The first, the Judd Iron Foundry, was established in the 1840's and moved to 44 Main Street (now the village hall) in 1850 Where it remained until c.1900. The Judd works manufactured one of the first iron plows in New York State and later produced iron building parts. The former foundry is built in coursed, rubble limestone with prominent quoins and ashlar lintels and a Greek Revival cornice. Other important regional industries were an organ and melodeon factory, a marble works, and several millwork establishments. Cherry Valley was also the center of agriculture for the valley, particularly the hops industry, which was important from 1860 to 1915, and the dairy industry, which became important after the arrival of the railroad in 1870 and which continues to be important today. The importance of Cherry Valley as a nineteenth-century commercial center is reflected in the commercial buildings. Most of the surviving commercial buildings were built between 1850 and 1880. Notable is the Italianate style in a two- or three-story scale with large bracketed cornices. The commercial block at #13-19 Main Street is constructed of limestone The buildings in the commercial district have generally retained their nineteenth-century, center entrance storefronts. Most of the residential architecture of the period consisted of modest, three-bay, Greek Revival style houses with side hall plans. A notable exception to this rule is the five-bay brick residence with recessed doorway, imposing cornice and stone lintels erected in c.1845 at #39 Main Street.

After 1850 the village grew slowly. Maple and Elm Streets were added to the original streets. The houses built during this time were for the merchants and artisans who supported the regional agricultural economy. Typically these houses were erected in a vernacular Italianate or Queen Anne style and located on large lots, in contrast with the earlier smaller scale development.

Cherry Valley developed a small resort industry in the late nineteenth century. The Cherry Valley Academy was converted to a hotel and the Palmer House (Central Hotel) was also built; however, neither remains. To enhance the resort quality of the village, two local entrepreneurs piped spring water two miles to the spring house on Alden Street. A brief revival of prosperity and travel occurred from 1925-1955 when the Great Western Turnpike (Route 20) was developed for automobiles and became the only highway running completely across the state. Garages, gas stations, hotels, and tourist homes were erected along the path of Route 20 (Main and Genesee Streets). Businessmen capitalized on the popularity of the Colonial Revival. The Tryon Inn, built in 1925, advertised its colonial antique furnishings. Advertisements and promotional material emphasized the "historic" quality of the village. The village hall received a Classical Revival portico; an excellent, small-scale Georgian Revival library was built at #61 Main; and the bank received Classical Revival details on the exterior and interior. This prosperity was sustained until after 1930 when the effects of the Great Depression began to limit spending and new construction.

In 1955-56 Cherry Valley was effectively isolated from future development by the building of the New York State Thruway, the construction of a bypass for Route 20 one mile north of town, and the abandonment of the railroad. The community declined as a commercial center as drug stores, groceries, and restaurants closed. Several historic structures were severely altered or lost to deterioration, fire and demolition. The village then existed primarily as a residential community both for primary and secondary homes.