Settled as early as 1626, the area today known as Peabody was originally part of
Salem called Brooksby Village. Early residents were farmers, but the abundant
streams of Brooksby made it a logical location for industries requiring water
power. By 1668 the tanning business had become well established, hence the
nickname "Tanner City." Brooksby separated from Salem in 1752 to form the
township of Danvers. In the years following the Revolutionary War, the township
flourished and in 1855 the southern part was incorporated into the separate Town
of South Danvers. Confusion resulted from the similarly named towns, and it was
decided in 1868 to rename South Danvers after George Peabody, the
international financier and philanthropist born in 1795 at 205 Washington Street, South Danvers. The population of the town grew steadily until the town meeting form of government grew too cumbersome. In 1916 the citizens of Peabody voted to become the thirty-seventh city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
courtesy City of Peabody, MA Official Website - www.ci.peabody.ma.us
These pages are part of a FREE project; there is no charge to view.
If anyone has anything to add and/or contribute to this information or anything to ask,
please e-mail me! Please put "Peabody" in the subject line. Thanks!
**Please note -- The USGenWeb Project and the site coordinator make no
warrantee as to the contents or accuracy of any of the materials for sale
by these third parties, nor the expertise of any professional researchers listed, nor contents of any site linked to herein or therein. I.E. - use at your own risk and judge the information for yourself.
Essex County Massachusetts Genealogy Project - Founded August 1996.
Peabody Massachusetts Genealogy Project established 1998.
Arranged and maintained by D. Putnam. Mail and Phone graphics from MicroSoft. Essex County graphic from essexbooks.com, edited by D. Putnam. All graphics belong to their creators, as noted and/or hyper-linked to. These pages 2001-present D. Putnam.
![Map of Peabody's location in Essex County, clickable with links to all other Essex County cities and towns [10 kb]](essxbuflttrpea.gif)
E-mail