Is Spinelli's In Peabody Or Lynnfield?

For motorists on Route 1 South, the first landmark to show that you're entering Lynnfield is Spinelli's, the function hall and Italian bakery/catering company that also has a well-known original location in East Boston.

Before Spinelli's occupied this spot on Route 1, generations of local residents enjoyed dining at the Town Lyne House, overlooking the shores of Lake Suntaug.

Still, the longer you've lived on the North Shore, the more likely you are to have had a conversation (probably in your car) focusing around whether Spinelli's is actually in Peabody or Lynnfield - not unlike similar Lynnfield-related conversations over the years about whether the Colonial is in town or in Wakefield.

Driving past Spinelli's, you might notice that you go past the building before you actually pass the "Welcome to Lynnfield" sign. However, the company's website lists itself as "Spinelli's of Lynnfield." So where is Spinelli's located? The answer is technically, sort of, both towns, although the short answer is basically, Peabody.

A check with the assessor's office at Town Hall finds that the lot that is home to Spinelli's has precisely 2,871 square feet of land actually located in Lynnfield. And this is just land - none of it is the building space. Also, my colleague from Peabody Patch informs me that police in that city are generally the ones who handle service calls to the location when they come up. I had suspected for months that the directory folks here at Patch were wrong when they listed Spinelli's as being in Peabody, but they weren't. So either way, there you have it.