Peabody [key], city (1990 pop. 47,039), Essex co., NE Mass., a suburb of Boston, on the Danvers River; settled c.1633, inc. as South Danvers 1855, name changed 1868. Little is left of its tanning industry, which began early in the 18th cent., but leather goods, chemicals, electronic equipment, precision instruments, plastics, and fabricated metals are produced. The city is also a major retail center. The Peabody Institute library contains much of the memorabilia of George Peabody, the philanthropist, for whom the city was named.
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