Red Barn

IMO the internet stinks for recent history, the boring details like what did this place look like in 1969 - that kind of thing.  However there are a few outposts like Pinterest that do have a little history (along with a LOT of ads).

Recently I saw this Red Barn ad in a Pinterest email.

  Curiously while I don't think I ever was in a Red Barn restaurant the ad did spark a memory.

As I recall there was a Red Barn on Fond du Lac avenue right next to Amateur Electronic Supply.  So I jumped in my internet car and tried to take a "drive" around that area.  Unfortunately Microsoft Bing has killed their streetside part of the maps.  Fortunately Google did a pass through that area for street view fairly recently in November 2025.

I *think* this used to be the Red Barn:

the barn roof is gone though

To the north is where AES used to be:

South of the Red Barn was Evans and Kunz pet shop:

And finally here is the former Fruit Ranch food store:

I tried to verify some of these recollections with this:

I found a couple of the places:

 

The Fruit Ranch had already moved:

 

But I didn't find the Red Barn, they had all closed by then per the wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_(restaurant)

So at least there are the wiki pages for historical data, but not as much specific to a city or neighborhood.

BTW the reason why I remember the Red Barn, the pet shop and the food store was that sometimes I'd ask my Mom if she wanted to go shopping at the Fruit Ranch.  I'd park there and then quickly walk down to Amateur Electronic Supply going past Evans and Kunz and the Red Barn along the way.  One of my classmates in high school was one of the scions of Evans and Kunz :)

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm