Thanks to a renovation project in Locust Point, a Glen Burnie landmark that burned down more than 40 years ago is making a kind of comeback. Painted on an outside second-story wall of a building at the corner of Hull Street and Fort Avenue is a wonderfully preserved billboard for The Barn, on Ritchie Highway (near Eighth Avenue) in northern Anne Arundel County. The giant ad lauds the restaurant’s banquet facilities, entices diners with a ribbon proclaiming “House of Beef,” promises “red carpet catering” and proudly notes, “credit cards honored.”

For decades, The Barn was a favorite gathering spot. Civic groups held their meetings there. Wedding receptions were commonplace, as were political gatherings.

The Barn’s proud run came to an ignominious end the morning of Jan. 20, 1974, when a four-alarm fire burned it nearly to the ground. The blaze, which lit the sky for more than four hours before it was brought under control, was one of a series of “suspicious” fires that destroyed several Glen Burnie restaurants over a five-year period.

Law enforcement officials theorized they were part of “underworld attempts to control the area’s tavern business,” The Sun reported. Federal agents were brought in to help in the investigation, and charges were eventually leveled against several suspects, but nothing was ever proven.

Sadly, The Barn never reopened.

chris.kaltenbach@baltsun.com