Danvers

History

Danvers was laid out under the name of "Concord" on February 20, 1836, by Israel W. Hall (1799 - 1865) and Matthew Robb (1801 – 1870). The name Concord was given to the town by Hall after Concord, Massachusetts. A rival town, Wilkesborough, just over a mile to the east, was laid out by James O. Barnard on June 3 of the same year. Wilkesborough had 96 lots and a public square. Both towns were part of the great town founding surge in Illinois that peaked in 1836. Between 1835 and 1837 eight new towns and many additions were laid out in McLean County. At this time it was fairly common for two towns to be founded close to each other as they competed for the same locational advantage. In this case both towns were on the stage route from Bloomington to Peoria and Pekin. For several years it was unclear which town would be successful. Wilkesborough did quite well and by 1859 had 15 heads of family, but Concord had three times that number. Eventually it became clear that Concord would was the more successful place, but the people of Concord had to go to Wilkesborough to get their mail. By the late 1870s Wilkesborough had completely vanished. Like many other new places laid out in the 1830s, the original plan of the new town was designed around a central public square. However, unlike most such places (for example, Lexington and LeRoy), the plat used at Concord showed with dashed lines how the streets which entered the public square midway along each side could be extended to meet at the center of the square. In effect, this unusual feature of the plan made it possible to subdivide the square into four smaller rectangles. This was soon done. One of these rectangles has always been a park, but the other three have been put to different civic uses, including locations for the…

Geography

Danvers is in western McLean County, northwest of Bloomington, the county seat. Illinois Route 9 passes just south of the village, leading southeast to Twin Grove and then on to Bloomington, and west to Mackinaw. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Danvers has a total area of , all land. It drains northwest toward the West Fork of Sugar Creek, a southwest-flowing stream within the Sangamon River watershed.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Normal Community West High School
  High · Normal · 1,628 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Kingsley Jr High School
  Middle · Normal · 753 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• Parkside Jr High School
  Middle · Normal · 641 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• University High School
  High · Normal · 620 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Thomas Metcalf School
  Elementary · Normal · 425 students · 9.7:1 ratio
• Olympia Middle School
  Middle · Stanford · 386 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Oakdale Elem School
  Elementary · Normal · 376 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Bent Elem School
  Elementary · Bloomington · 374 students · 15.6:1 ratio