Amazing Anniversary: Cherry Hill Park

Cherry
Hill Park

College Park,
Maryland

Located just 12 miles from our nation’s capital, Cherry Hill Park
is a family-owned and operated campground that has been in the Gurevich
family for five generations. For the past century, the family has been
proudly hosting guests from all across America and all over the world just
down the road in their home state of Maryland.

Caption: Jacob and Rose Gurevich at Cherry Hill Poultry
Farm.

The story of Cherry Hill Park begins back in 1921, when Jacob and
Rose Gurevich moved out to the country from Washington, D.C. They bought a
plot of land, started Cherry Hill Poultry Farm, and set up a general store
right by the road. When travelers came through, Rose allowed them to set up
camp behind the store, and that’s when the Gurevich family officially entered
the outdoor hospitality industry. After World War II, when the nation
experienced a housing crisis, the family converted their land into Cherry
Hill Trailer Park, then Cherry Hill Mobile Home Village, to meet the housing
needs of returning GIs and young families. Then, as the interstate highway
system grew, Americans began to travel for leisure and many needed a place to
stay while visiting Washington, D.C. That’s when the Gurevich family opened
Cherry Hill Campcity, a business that exclusively catered to travelers and
tourists.

Caption: Cherry Hill Park has evolved over the years but stayed
in the Gurevich family.

In the 1980s, Rose and Jacob’s grandson Norman Gurevich and his
wife Joan had a vision for a new kind of campground: a top-tier destination
park that offered premium amenities, extensive services, full hook-ups and
room for even the biggest RVs. They built Cherry Hill Park from scratch,
moving one mile down the road from their original location.

Two generations later, the Gurevich family is still focused on
continuing to grow and change to accommodate the needs of its guests. In
2015, it completed another major renovation, adding a splash park, premium
log cabins, 18-hole mini golf course, a new bathhouse, a gym, an outdoor
pavilion, new laundry facilities and group tenting sites. The family’s
dedication to providing an excellent camping experience has earned the park
the honor of being a three-time winner of ARVC’s prestigious Park of the Year
award. Cherry Hill Park also regularly receives outstanding ratings on many
guest review sites.

Caption: Now a three-time ARVC Park of the Year award winning
park!

To officially mark its 100th anniversary, the park is
offering a series of giveaways and holding a photo contest. On September 8th,
it will host an event where the staff will bury a time capsule filled with
items that will document what the camping experience was like at Cherry Hill
Park in 2021. The public is welcome to attend.

Through all of the changes over the past 100 years, the Gurevich
family has stayed firmly rooted in the same values it held back when it was a
family of farmers.

“We know how special it is to be a family business,” say owners
Mike and Linda Gurevich. “We are so grateful for the sacrifice, dedication
and vision of previous generations who enabled us to be in this position. We
are privileged to work every day with people we love and hold close. Growing
from our mom-and-pop beginnings to now having over 60 employees, we are
blessed with a great staff and three, soon to be four, generations currently
involved in the business. As a family, we all love what we do, and our only
regret is that two generations were unable to see what their hard work has
become. We’re also proud to work hard and to put smiles on the faces of those
we serve. We focus each day on providing our guests with the best hospitality
and tourism options that Washington, D.C., has to offer.”

Caption: Four
generations of the Gurevich family.