On November 11, 1778,[2] during the American Revolution, forty-seven village residents were killed by a British and Iroquois raiding party, an event to become known as the Cherry Valley Massacre.

Many people around Cherry Valley are dairy farmers; tapping maple trees for sap, which is then refined into syrup, is a common spring practice.

Area attractions include the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Bates Hop House, Cherry Valley Museum, Judd Falls, Otsego Lake, and Glimmerglass State Park.

There is an annual Memorial Day celebration which includes a Craft Fair, Bake sale, Flea Market, Chicken BBQ, and parade.

Cherry Valley was the birthplace of John H. Funk (1817-1871), State Assemblyman from New York City in 1857, and his younger sister, Jane (1823-1860), better known as the "notorious" courtesan Fanny White.

Poet Allen Ginsberg bought a farm there in the 1960s, and the town became a haven and destination point for many of the major personalities of the Beat scene: William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Herbert Huncke, Ray Bremser, Anne Waldman, Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Harry Smith, and many others all spent time either living or visiting there.

Jazz pianist Paul Bley is a resident as are Mark Mastroianni and National Book Award nominated novelist Dana Spiotta.

Transgender pioneer, actress and Andy Warhol Superstar Candy Darling is buried in the historic Cherry Valley Cemetery.

Photographer Ryan McGinley staged several photo shoots in and around the village, and the artist Dash Snow shot Sisyphus, Sissy Fuss, Silly Puss, one of his later 8mm pieces, there in late May 2009.