Cherry Valley Village Historic District
Why it's listed
Cherry Valley Village Historic District covers the historic core of a small Otsego County village at the headwaters of Cherry Valley Creek. The district is organized around the crossroads of Alden, Montgomery, Lancaster-Genesee and Main Streets, and includes 232 contributing features. Most are houses, along with commercial buildings, four churches, two governmental buildings, a cemetery, monuments and a spring house. Federal, Greek Revival and Italianate buildings predominate, with Gothic Revival churches and Queen Anne houses. Key landmarks include the 1815 limestone Cherry Valley National Bank, the first in Otsego County, and a row of limestone Italianate stores on Main Street. The village grew as a regional center for milling, iron founding, hops, dairying, education and worship. It later developed a resort trade and a Route 20 tourism revival between 1925 and 1955. Highway and railroad changes in the 1950s isolated the village from further development.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to preserve a largely intact crossroads village whose buildings reflect its role as a commercial, industrial, agricultural, educational and religious center from the early nineteenth century. It contains notable Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Gothic Revival and Queen Anne buildings, including the 1815 bank, the first in Otsego County. Its later development includes a resort trade and a Route 20 tourism revival from 1925 to 1955.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 88000472, listed April 28, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Alden St. and Montgomery St., Maple Ave. and Elm St., and Main St., Cherry Valley |
|---|---|
| County | Otsego County |
| Listed | April 28, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88000472 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Predominantly Federal, Greek Revival and Italianate, with Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival examples |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Form lists the district as occupied, in fair to deteriorated condition, with mixed commercial, residential, religious and government use. |
| Acreage | 95 |
| Coordinates | 42.79664, -74.75228 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 88000472.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5092501
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.