Devens is a regional enterprise zone and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley (in Middlesex County) and Harvard (in Worcester County) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the successor to Fort Devens, a military post that operated from 1917 to 1996. The population was 1,840 at the 2010 census.

The area itself is named after jurist and Civil War general Charles Devens. In 2011, the CDP tried to secede from Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard and become the 352nd town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts but failed the vote. Some residents are yet looking to secede to become a town.

The area operated as Fort Devens from 1917 to 1996. The Fort’s sitting was due primarily to its location at a major hub of the rail network in New England. Since 1917, a formerly sleepy area was developed into a fort that was superior redeveloped into the industrial Place of Devens. Federal Medical Center, Devens was received as a federal prison on the grounds of the former base.

The U.S. Army state which resided at Fort Devens was officially closed in 1996 after 79 years of service. The process for estate distribution for everything parcels upon the former Fort Devens allowed the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Shriver Job Corps, Massachusetts National Guard, Massachusetts Veterans and MassDevelopment to acquire the land. The bulk of the estate was purchased by MassDevelopment for $17 million. MassDevelopment is a quasi-public onslaught authority that has been answer the task of turning Devens into a residential and situation community. Since the closing of the military base, many of the existing buildings have been renovated or reconstructed; housing developments now exist, along with a growing concern park, a further hotel, restaurants, two disc golf courses and a golf course. Veterans of the Army Security Agency have plus expressed immersion in building a museum there, as Fort Devens was their principal training power for beyond two decades.^{[citation needed]}