BlockDanvers, Massachusetts
42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Danvers town. It lies in ZIP code area 01923. It stands on Frost Fish Brook. The Survey maps it on the Salem quadrangle. 28,087 people lived here at the 2020 count.
Then and now
1888 to 1985The same ground, surveyed 97 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
On record in Danvers
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 12 of 13 shown
Derby SummerhouseNational Historic Landmark · listed 1968
Rea Putnam Fowler Houselisted 1990
Fox Hill Schoollisted 1988
High Street Cemeterylisted 2003
Prince Osborne Houselisted 1990
Peabody Institutelisted 1997
Gen. Israel Putnam Houselisted 1976
James Putnam Jr. Houselisted 1990
Rea-Proctor Homesteadlisted 1982
Salem Village Historic Districtlisted 1975
Sprague Houselisted 1987
State Lunatic Hospital at Danverslisted 1984
Surveyed buildings and structures 10 records
- Betsy K. Warren Place, 124 High Street, Danversfederal building survey, 6 photographs
- Elias Endicott Porter House & Farm Gates, Locust Street, Danversfederal building survey, 3 photographs
- General Israel Putnam Birthplace, 431 Maple Street, Danversfederal building survey, 3 photographs
- General Israel Putnam House, 431 Maple Street, Danversfederal building survey, 10 photographs
- George Jacobs House, Margin Street, Danversfederal building survey, 19 photographs
- Judge Samuel Holten House, 171 Holten Street, Danversfederal building survey, 11 photographs
- Oak Knoll, Summer Street, Danversfederal building survey, 4 photographs
- Rebecca Nurse Place, 149 Pine Street, Danversfederal building survey, 3 photographs
- Samuel Fowler House, 166 High Street, Danversfederal building survey, 1 photograph
- The Lindens, Sylvan Street, Danversfederal building survey, 30 photographs
Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 12 of 19 shown
- Grammar SchoolSchool, in the atlas of 1903 to 1909
- Mill, at DanversportMill, in the atlas of 1903 to 1948
- Universalist ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1887 to 1909
- Advent ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1887 to 1909
- Nightingale, J. E., & Co., Machine ShoMachine Shop, in the atlas of 1903 to 1909
- St. John's Preparatory SchoolSchool, in the atlas of 1927 to 1948
- Sylvester, D., Co., Rolling-millMill, in the atlas of 1903 to 1909
- Annunciation Catholic ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1909
- Baptist Church, at DanversportChurch, in the atlas of 1903
- Congreg'l ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1909
- Danvers HotelHotel, in the atlas of 1887
- Danvers Junction DepotsDepot, in the atlas of 1909
Population over time
2 figuresDanvers grew from 26,493 to 28,087 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 26,493 | |
| 2020 | 28,087 | +1,594 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
17 surveys from 42 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1888 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500, 11 printings
- 1917 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500
- 1919 USGS Salem quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Cape Ann quadrangle1:125000
- 1944 USGS Salem quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Salem quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1956 USGS Salem quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1970 USGS Salem quadrangle1:25000
- 1970 USGS Salem quadrangle1:24000
- 1977 USGS Salem quadrangle1:25000
- 1984 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Salem quadrangle1:25000, 3 printings
In the county-history sources
19,549 words on this townshipHistory of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888 names this settlement in its chapter on Danvers Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The first and most distinguished name in our early annals has become, in the male line, utterly extinct. In the Danvers directory the name of Endicott appears but once, - " Lydia W., widow of William." The late William Endicott was one of the early antislavery men, was one of the last of the Danversport sea-captains, often served as moderator of townmeetings, and was otherwise prominent in local affairs ; his daughter, Mrs. H. G. Hyde, resides in Danvers, and two sons in Haverhill.
Passage source: History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888.
Downing's son George, who was one of the first graduates of Harvard, became Sir George Downing, a prominent figure in the history of the Old Country in Cromwell's time. The old Ipswich, road, the first higliway connecting Lynn and Boston with the northern settlements, was laid out through this land, and in 1648 one of his tenants was allowed to keep an " ordinary " to accommodate travelers. For a time the Downings let the farm, and in 1666 it was occupied by John Proctor, who subsequently bought a part of it. Proctor, who came from Ipswich, was a strong man in every sense, and he was one of tlie conspicuous victims of the witchcraft delusion. Many of his descendants have been prominent citizens of South Danvers, where the family is still well represented.
Passage source: History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888.
Nathaniel was but eleven years old when his father died. His mother married again, and soon the lad found a home Avith Governor Endicott, not that he was driven to this step, but probably only as other boys and young men were glad to be educated in the practical agricultural college at the Orchard Farm. "I went to live with Governor Endicott as his servant four years." He was nineteen when he went back to the land which his father had left him, and near by the present parsonage of the First Church, he built a house of more generous proportions than were common. Here, to the end of his three-score and ten, he was mine host of an open house, the resling-place of weary travelers, the meeting-place on all sorts of occasions of the villagers. Its ample public-room was at once town-house, church and military headquarters, and the whole-souled landlord was looked upon as the natural arbiter of neighborhood quarrels. He was a just man, whose guide of life was the golden rule, and the love and respect universally accorded him were but the natural tribute to his worth. There is nothing out of harmony with such a character in the following permit granted in 1673, though at present men of his stamp are not found keeping bar: "Nathaniel Ingersoll is allowed to sell bear and syder by the quart for the tyme whyle the farmers are a building of their meeting-house and on Lord's days afterwards." When his only child, a little girl, died, he and his wife took and brought up Benjamin, one of the sons of his neighbor Joseph Hutchinson, who was "an obedient son until he came of one and twenty years of age." Ingersoll was not rich, but he gave the young man a liberal marriage gift out of his comparatively small farm. This was but one of a series of gifts of land. When the church was organized, as will hereafter appear, Nathaniel Ingersoll and Edward Putnam were colleagues as first deacons. It will be seen that Deacon Putnam's farm was on the Middleton line two or three miles from the church, and in 1714 he had reached a time when a man sees old age approaching. Ingersoll desired his dear friend to pass his declining years in the comfortable proximity to the church which he had himself ever enjoyed. Therefore, " for the good affection " which he bore to him, he freely gave Deacon Putnam " a piece of land bounded northerly upon the land of Joseph Green (the minister) next to his orchard gate, westerly on the highway, and southerly and easterly on my land," and thither, it is thought. Deacon Putnam came to dwell. When pipes were laid for the water-works, an old well was dug into, thought to have been his. Long before this he had given four acres and a half to Rev. Samuel Parris. By his will he gave the church fifty shillings " for the more adorning the Lord's Table, to be laid out in some silver cup." He gave a life estate in the lands of which he died possessed to his wife, with remainder to his adopted son, except one piece, " a small parcel of land of about two acres, that lyeth between Mrs. Walcots and George Wyotts by the highway, which I give to the inhabitants of Salem Village, for a training place forever." Forever ! What better monument can a man leave to his memory than a reservation of land for the use of the public, forever. The pleasant common at Danvers Centre, bounded on one side by a street which bears the giver's name, is the old training-field of Nathaniel Ingersoll. These words are Mr. Upham's : " Within its enclosure the elements of the military art have been imparted to a greater number of persons distinguished in their day, and who have left an imperishable glory behind them as the defenders of their country, a brave yeomanry in arms, than on any other spot. From the slaughter of Bloody Brook, the storming of the Narragansett Fort and all the early Indian wars; from the Heights of Abraham, Lake George, Lexington, Bunker Hill, Braudywine, Pea Ridge, and a hundred other battle-fields, a lustre is reflected back upon this village parade-ground. It is associated with all the military traditions of the country, down to the late Rebellion."
Passage source: History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1888.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Danvers Town - it names this place 31 more 31 times.
Fires near this place
79 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 79 fires within 5 miles of Danvers between 2006 and 2020, burning about 127 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Smoking | 17 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BEVERLY |
| 4 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BEVERLY |
| 27 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 21 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 17 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | PEABODY |
| 12 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | DANVERS |
| 8 August 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BEVERLY |
| 7 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | TOPSFIELD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 7,155 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 7,155 specimens collected within 10 miles of Danvers between 1800 and 1975: 2,567 Plantae, 2,552 Animalia, 1,111 Fungi, 401 Unrecorded, 368 Chromista, 110 Bacteria, 46 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A B. Proper, A H HIGGINSON, A. A. Eaton and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Rhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Halling & Noordel. | 1800 | R. B. Mackintosh | Peabody |
| Erysiphaceae | 1803 | A. B. Seymour | ||
 | Brasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel. | 1821 | not recorded | Pleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass. |
 | Diphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr | 1822 | ALCOTT | |
 | Arcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 1875 | 1826 | F. A. Gilbert | |
 | Glyceria obtusa (Muhl.) Trin. | 1838 | W Oakes | |
 | Lecanora tartarea (L.) Ach. | 1839 | E. Tuckerman | Manchester |
 | Ochrolechia yasudae Vainio | 1839 | Tuckerman, E. | [USA] Manchester, Massachusetts. |
 | Euphorbia polygonifolia L. | 1840 | Wolle, J. | Ipswich |
 | Iva frutescens L. | 1840 | Oakes | ad Ipswich |
 | Potentilla anserina L. | 1840 | Wolle, J. | Ipswich |
 | Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. | 1840 | Oakes | Ipswich |
All 7,155 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Danvers: 4 past producers, 4 plants, 2 producers. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Zirconium, Thorium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Travers Labs Refinery--Beverly, Ma. | Mercury, Silver, Gold, REE | Plant | ||
| Hale Engineering Co--Danvers, Ma. | Tungsten | Plant | ||
| Thiokol Ventron Div--Danvers, Ma. | Thorium | Plant | ||
| Camillieri Corp Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Donald Innis Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Thiokol Ventron Div--Beverly, Ma. | Zirconium | Plant | ||
| Ventron Corp--Beverly, Ma. | Zirconium | Past Producer | ||
| Danvers Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Essex Bituminous Concrete Products | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Peabody Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Danvers in 9 storm reports between 1993 and 2018: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2018 | Flood | Danvers | $5,000 | At 348 AM EST, amateur radio operator reported a flooded basement on Liberty Street in Danvers. |
| January 2014 | Lightning | Danvers | $4,000 | An isolated lightning strike caused minor damage to the roof of a house on Lakeview Avenue. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Danvers | $1,000 | Four inch diameter branches were downed onto Commonwealth and Harvard Avenues. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Danvers | - | Several trees down on North Street. |
| August 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Danvers | - | Seventy-five to 100 trees were reported blown down and 50 to 60 telephone poles were knocked down, per local police. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Danvers | - | Numerous trees were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Danvers | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Danvers | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Danvers | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Putnamville | 0.9 miles | 42 | |
| Beaver Brook (historical) | 1.5 miles | 42 | |
| Ferncroft | 1.5 miles | 42 | |
| Danvers Center | 1.6 miles | 42 | |
| Tapleyville | 1.7 miles | 42 | |
| Danversport | 1.9 miles | 42 | |
| North Beverly | 2.3 miles | 42 | |
| Hathorne | 2.5 miles | 42 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikidata item Q16301529 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 614221. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.