Native Americans inhabited what would become northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years before the
European colonization of the Americas. At the time of European contact in the early 1600s, the area that would become Beverly was between an important
Naumkeag settlement in present-day
Salem and
Agawam settlements on
Cape Ann, with probable indigenous settlement sites at the mouth of the Bass River. During the early contact period,
virgin soil epidemics ravaged native populations, reducing the indigenous population within the present boundaries of Beverly from an estimated 200 to less than 50 if there were any survivors. Surviving from the settlement's early history is the
John Balch House, built, according to
dendrochronological testing performed in 2006, about 1679. The colonists did not initially seek permission from indigenous inhabitants to settle in Beverly; however, when
Charles II revoked colonial charters to establish the
Dominion of New England in 1684, Beverly joined a number of Massachusetts municipalities in seeking out heirs to local
sachems and paying them
ex post facto in order to establish a right to the land. So it was that in 1686, the town selectmen agreed to pay six pounds, six shillings, and eight pence to three grandchildren of
Chief Masconomet, last
sachem of the Agawam. They did not pay this sum until 1700. and largest cotton mill of its time. The town is the home of one of the country's first
Sunday schools, which was built in 1810. Beverly was incorporated as a city in 1894. In 1902, the
United Shoe Machinery Corporation built a quarter-mile (400 m) stretch of factory buildings in Beverly. The stretch was an early landmark example of
reinforced concrete construction, devised by concrete pioneer
Ernest L. Ransome. In 1906 it went into production. Closed in 1987, the complex was bought by Cummings Properties in 1996, and developed into a campus of hi-tech companies, salons, restaurants, medical offices, and more.
Parker Brothers, makers of
Monopoly and other games, was headquartered in Beverly, acquired by
Hasbro, and eventually ceased operations in Beverly. In 2012, the Dunham Road property was acquired by Cummings Properties and named Dunham Ridge. President
William Howard Taft rented a house for the
summer White House from Mrs. Maria Evans in Beverly. In the summers of 1909 and 1910, he lived in a house located at what is now the site of the Italian Garden in Lynch Park, the city's principal public park, and in 1911 and 1912 he rented a different house a mile (1600 m) away, "Parramatta", from Mrs. Robert Peabody.
Beverly Hills, California, was named in 1907 after Beverly Farms in Beverly because Taft vacationed there. In 1984, the
deadliest arson fire in Massachusetts history occurred at the Elliott Chambers, a rooming house located on the corner of Rantoul and Elliott Streets in downtown Beverly. 15 people died as a result of the fire. Beverly has a former
Nike missile site on L. P. Henderson Road, immediately east of the
Beverly Municipal Airport. This site was in operation from March 1957 until August 1959, when the Army handed it over to the
National Guard. It is currently used by
Massachusetts US&R Task Force 1 and is under the scrutiny of many environmental organizations, due to concerns about polluted
groundwater, which could be potentially hazardous to the nearby
Wenham Lake water supply. In April 2013, Bill Scanlon, Beverly's longest-serving mayor, announced that he would not be running for re-election in November. Scanlon first won election to the mayor's seat in 1993 and held the office through 2013 (with the exception of a single term by Tom Crean from 2002 to 2003). In 2013,
Michael Cahill beat Wes Slate to become Beverly's 34th mayor. In December 2021, Mayor Cahill received one of two top honors from the Mayors Climate Protection Awards recognizing mayors for their climate work. The award focused on two Beverly efforts: the conversion of its vehicle fleet to electric and its Green Schools Program, which involves making buildings more energy efficient. Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll also received an honorable mention for her work on Resilient Together, a Beverly-Salem collaboration to address climate change. Whether it involves vehicle electrification or the greening of city buildings, the coastal city of Beverly has made climate work a central focus to protect its future. Beverly is home to
The Cabot, one of only approximately 250 similar movie palaces left out of an estimated 20,000 theaters built in the 1920s. For its first 40 years, it served as a center of community life for downtown Beverly. In 1944, the venue was leased to movie chain giant E.M. Loew's, which eventually purchased it in 1962, and renamed it the Cabot Cinema. In 1976 it was purchased by
Le Grand David and His Own Spectacular Magic Company. For 37 years, The Cabot hosted Le Grand David's long-running magic show that made seven White House appearances and won recognition in the Guinness Book of Records and TIME, Smithsonian and National Geographic World magazines. After Le Grand David's retirement in 2012, the venue was sold in 2014 and reopened as a nonprofit performing arts center. ==Geography==