But with population down to about 440 -- it peaked at 701 in 1900, but still had nearly that many as late as 1980 -- the majority of residents felt there were too few people to spread around the tax burden for water, sewer and other services.

Still, dissolution was a contentious enough issue that several people who spoke to The News declined to say publicly how they voted, fearing it could jeopardize customers or personal relationships.

Two centuries old

Banners along a stretch of Main Street proclaim the town’s 1815 origin.

That’s when Joshua Bentley Jr., a surveyor for the Holland Land Company, drove a red cherry sapling into the ground to mark the township center. He named the stream Cherry Creek as well.

The first settlers were part of the westward movement in the United States after the Revolution. They came from New England and along Lake Ontario, and stopped in Cherry Creek because of the rich soil and the pine forest.

Sharon Howe, the town’s historian and librarian, leafed through pictures and held up storyboards in the library to show how much activity there once was in Cherry Creek.