town (1990 pop. 24,174), Essex co., NE Mass.; settled in the 1630s, set off from Salem 1752, inc. as a town 1757. Danvers has light manufacturing, including electronic equipment, chemicals, machinery, and apparel. The Salem witchcraft incidents began there in 1692; more than half of the victims were from Danvers. John Greenleaf Whittier spent his later years in the town, and the American Revolutionary Gen. Israel Putnam was born there. Numerous buildings of historical and architectural interest are preserved, several dating from the 1600s.