In 1889 J. S. McMullen, age 55, pulled up stakes and went out West. He had spent most of his life in Michigan but perhaps he was enticed to start a new life by word of the rich natural resources of the Seattle area. McMullen brought his wife and four adult children, and the family became business leaders in the Fremont neighborhood.
The McMullen family arrived at an opportune time, just before Seattle’s Great Fire of June 6, 1889 which resulted in an enormous demand for materials for rebuilding the city. The McMullens established a building materials company which supplied wood, brick, lime, plaster, cement and sand, and they had a fuel business of wood and coal used for heating homes. The company also sold hay, grain and poultry feed.
J.S. McMullen died in 1912 and his eldest son John E. McMullen took over the business. By that time, after more than twenty years in the community, the McMullens had become a dynasty in Fremont. John and his brother David led the company and several of their sons worked in the business. The McMullen Company had a large complex between 34th to 35th Streets, Evanston to Phinney Avenues, with a large “Hay and Grain” sign visible on their building.
The McMullens were vigorous advocates for the government’s ship canal route past Fremont because they knew it would enhance the business opportunities of the community. The ability to transport heavy items such as wood and coal via ship, to be unloaded at canal-side, would be a great advantage to the McMullens and to other Fremont businesses.
The McMullens are an example of the emphasis of Fremont businessmen upon expansion of maritime and industrial use of the ship canal.
The McMullens were in the block which today includes the Burke Building on North 34th Street nearest to Phinney Avenue, and other commercial structures. In the 1916 photo below, the trolley car barn is visible. Today the old car barn building is the Theo Chocolate factory on the corner of 34th & Phinney.
Although the McMullen’s name is unfamiliar today, the McMullen’s large building with its “Hay and Grain” sign is an excellent orientation point in photos taken in 1911 to 1917 during the years of construction of the ship canal and the opening ceremony on July 4, 1917. The McMullen’s Hay and Grain building was at 460 Ewing Street (now called North 34th Street) in the block between Evanston and Phinney Avenues.
Sources:
Fremont Colleague newspaper, January 2, 1904, page 15. Microfilm, UW Library.
Census and city directory listings, McMullen family. Earliest listed address of the business was 460 Ewing Street (on 34th between Phinney and Evanston Avenues) with the additional small kiosk located at the southwest corner of Fremont Avenue & Ewing Street.
“J.E. and D.E. McMullen,” Seattle and Environs by C. H. Hanford, Vol. 2, pages 531-533, 1924. Seattle Room of the Seattle Public Library R979.72