Then And Now: The Lynnfield Hotel

CORRECTION: This article erroneously stated which business is located on the Northwest corner of the Route 1/Salem Street intersection. It turns out that the Northwest corner is actually the one with the tailor shop and the forthcoming roast beef place (formerly Mr. Santo hair salon).

In the latest edition of Then And Now, we look back at the Lynnfield Hotel. A town historical report found online in a state affordable housing document states that the Lynnfield Hotel was built in 1804, two years before the construction of the Newburyport Turnpike (Route 1). It further reports that the hotel was the first stagecoach stop from Boston.  The hotel reportedly burned down in 1894.

Separate research finds a mention of the Lynnfield Hotel in the vintage historical photo book on the town compiled by Warren Fells. According to that book, the hotel was located on the northwest corner of Route 1 and Salem Street, which would place it in the spot currently occupied by the tailor shop and the soon-to-open roast beef place.

The Fells book, one of several local historical resources that can be found in their entirety on Google Books, goes on to report that the “New” Lynnfield Hotel was then constructed in 1896 on the southeast corner of the Newburyport Turnpike (Route 1) and Salem Street. That hotel apparently burned down in 1904.

One interesting detail for local history buffs is that the Civil War training camp, Camp Stanton, was located within an easy walking distance of the Lynnfield Hotel. Camp Stanton occupied the spot where the Peabody Holiday Inn on Route 1 is now located. There was also a long-ago B+M Railroad station at what is now the junction of Routes 1 and 128.