A few miles southeast of Philadelphia, in the coastal plain of the valley shaped by the Delaware River, is situated the beautiful city of Cherry Hill, a town rich in history, geography, and attractions.

Cherry Hill Origins Early Years

The zone where Cherry Hill was founded, like many other places in the same area, has been inhabited for a long time by Indians belonging to the Lenni-Lenape tribes. At a certain point in time, English settlers led by William Penn colonized the region. It seems that their first settlement was a little group of houses called Colestown. Actually, this name is present in the area still today since it now belongs to a cemetery situated between Route 41 and Church Road.

Cherry Hill Foundation and Origin of the Name

The first structure of what would have eventually become Cherry Hill was a farm, built in the 19th-century along Route 38, which was then called Kaighn Avenue. During the course of time, the farm was transformed first into an inn and later into an office campus, but all these structures shared the name "Cherry Hill", which was subsequently used to name also other places in the area. When the settlement was grown enough to be called a town it went under some name changes, but in 1961 the population chose, by a referendum, to use this original toponym to call the place where they lived.

History of Cherry Hill

The First Town Meeting

The first time Cherry Hill could consider itself as a real town was probably when it had its first town meeting. It was held on March 13th, 1844, at the Ellisburg townhouse. Since that day, many other town meetings have been: from 1901 to 1924 meetings were held monthly; after 1924 they have had a bi-monthly basis, and the tradition continues today since town meetings are still held the second and the fourth Mondays of the month in Cherry Hill's Municipal Building.

Agricultural Growth

New Jersey is known as "the Garden State". It is therefore not surprising that Cherry Hill, whose original nucleus, as we said, was a farm, has been very successful in its agricultural activities. During the course of time, many farming families have given their contribution to Cherry Hill's agricultural efforts, and their passage is recognizable still today in the names of many places around the town. Most of the products grown by Cherry Hill's farmers were directed to the famous Campbell's Soup Company, whose headquarter is still located in Camden.

Population and Society

Demographics

After a boom in the sixties and the seventies, Cherry Hill's population has been growing more slowly but steadily in the last years, the last census reporting a 0.3% increase with respect to 2010.

Recreation

Cherry Hill offers to its citizens a great number of green areas: in fact, 51 public parks can be found in the town. Another opportunity to spend time in the outdoors is offered by the golf courses located here, which are guaranteed to amuse the lovers of this beautiful sport.