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| Red Barn ablaze, October 20, 1968 |
The original Red Barn was a dining establishment housed in....a big red barn. (Fortunate naming, huh?) It opened sometime in the early 1960's, but after 1961 (anyone know any more specific than that?). The aerial photo below shows the area that year, without even Farrand Drive yet in place. The barn can clearly be seen, with a drive coming back from Kirkwood Highway. [A side note -- the circular shape with something on its west side, about where Smith's Volkswagon is now, may have been, from what I gather, a trampoline park. Anyone remember this?] Who owned the farm (which probably extended north and west before the highway was built) is unclear, but judging by the 1940 Census, my two guesses are either Norman Klair or Jacob Maclary. They seem to be the first two farmers listed coming what I'm guessing to be west out of Marshallton.
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| Area around the Red Barn, 1961 |
Sometime in the early-to-mid-60's, the big, old, red barn was converted into a restaurant. Sadly, it didn't last very long. On the afternoon of Sunday, October 20, 1968, a fire broke out in the attic, over the second floor dining rooms. Mill Creek Fire Company was soon on the scene, as was a crowd of people drawn by the smoke and sirens. Luckily for us, that crowd included my parents, for whom we can thank for the pictures. My Mom especially remembers this, since it happened to have been her birthday. (Don't worry, I don't think they were planning on going there for dinner.) The fire devastated the structure, said in this newspaper account to have been 50 years old. This incarnation of the restaurant never reopened, and the barn was eventually torn down.
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Although the red barn was gone, the Red Barn Restaurant was not. A new structure was built and reopened under the same name. Here's where I could use some help, but I don't think the second restaurant was open too much longer than the first. I believe that by the late 70's, it too was shut down. I had always thought that the second building had a fire, too, but I could be wrong about that. I may just be remembering the first fire through my parents. I know that the building stood vacant for a number of years, before being torn down to make way for the Channel Home Center. In the mid 90's, that store was torn down and replaced by the current Best Buy.
Scott.....I can remember a Putt-Putt miniature golf course being there between the Red Barn and where Smith's is now. That would have been mid 60's.
ReplyDeleteI also remember the putt putt.In the mid 1960's a strip center was put in and the McDonalds was next to it. The next building on Kirkwood Hwy going east was the Naval Reserve. Old Capitol trail was behind the Red Barn, the Mcdonalds and the Reserve heading toward Marshalton if I remember correctly.
ReplyDeleteOK, so the putt-putt was across Farrand Drive from the Red Barn. I'd heard about it, but for some reason I was thinking it was further west, past Limestone Road. The 1968 aerial looks like theres something about where the Wendys and Taco Bell is now, and the Smith's Volkswagon building is there (I remember they had auctions in there in the 70's, like maybe Saturday evenings).
ReplyDeleteAnd M.E., all those buildings are still there. The strip center is now a Starbucks and (as of very recently) a medical place. It had electronics places in it for years, and I remember a video rental store there in the 80's. The McDonalds became a Big and Tall store once the newer one was built in front of Midway shopping center, maybe early 90's?
I remember the second Red Barn fire- I rode my bike from Windermere to gawk at it. I was definitely too young to make that journey in 1968, so I am sure it was the second fire that I remember. I think the red Barn opened again after the second fire but permanently closed a year or two later.
ReplyDeleteFor the longest time the main tenet at the strip center was a Buten Paint store. Tweeter audio moved into its space in the 1980's.
The McDonald's was originally a drive-in only; I remember going there after school in the late 1970 and eating my cheeseburger in my car. It was remodeled into a sit-in restaurant in the early 1980's before switching over to the Big and Tall Store (which later was the scene of what is possibly MCH's most notorious unsolved crime.)
The McDonalds was a drive-in Bill Harris. I worked there between 1967-69 while going to High School. They also had a long tiled bench on both sides of the windows that were always lined with teenagers at nite hanging out during the summer.
DeleteI had completely forgotten about the Red Barn until I read your post. I recall the fire too. I think the second Red Barn sat empty for some time before being torn down.
ReplyDeleteA little off topic but I also remember when W. F.(?) Grant's Department Store in Midway Shopping center burnt down. No idea of the date on that one. We could see the flames from the second story of our house on Milltown Road.
Vic-
ReplyDeleteI also have some vague memories of the WT Grant fire. The fire at Hobby House is the event at Midway Shopping Center that I recall most vividly.
OK, you caught me! I'll admit that I was an underage drinker at the Red Barn back in the early seventies. For a couple of years it was one of the hottest spots around (no pun intented). Red Barn, Deer Park, Stone Baloon, then on to the Anvil Inn near Kennett. The Red Barn had a minimal cover charge and if you looked liked you 15 or so, you were in!
ReplyDeletethere was a barn on limestone rd where limestone Medical is now 1941 limestone rd. who owned that one ...I remember it caught fire at night and lit up the sky back in the mid 70's..also any info on the Klair property off of old limestone rd and milltown there are some historic houses along that stretch of road.hopefully it wont get plowed under and another shopping center pops up
ReplyDeleteI recall a produce market at that 1941 address in the 70's. Bought a lot of corn, peaches and strawberries there. The family that owned that property had an Italian name--Terranova maybe?
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