In February 1681, the inhabitants of Salem Village voted to build a house for the ministry with convenient land, a building 42 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 13 feet stude, with four chimneys and no gable ends. The south-facing house had a half-cellar on its west side made of dry laid fieldstones and entered by a stairway from the porch, while the east side had no cellar and its sills rested on ground stones. Its first floor had two rooms divided by the front entry and a massive brick chimney structure, with two bed chambers on the second floor, and each of the four rooms had a fireplace. By 1692 a saltbox leanto had been added to the rear and used as a kitchen. Rev. George Burroughs first lived there, followed by Rev. Deodat Lawson, and in 1689 Rev. Samuel Parris came to live there with his wife Elizabeth, daughter Elizabeth, and niece Abigail Williams. The witch hysteria and subsequent legal proceedings led to the imprisonment of over 150 persons and the deaths of 23, including former resident George Burroughs. The parsonage continued to be occupied by Salem Village and Danvers ministers until it was torn down in 1784 and the land reverted to pasture. By 1970 the property was owned by Alfred and Edie Anne Hutchinson, and after Richard B. Trask proposed finding and excavating the site, the resulting Danvers Dig was carried out by numerous volunteers assisted by archaeologist Roland Wells Robbins. In 1988, with state assistance, the Town of Danvers purchased the site as a historic landmark.