The Internal Feud at a Ballard Lumber Mill
A sawmill partnership in Ballard faces a forced liquidation as the company president sues his partner for mismanagement and mounting debts.
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D. H. McMullen, president of the McMullen-Winsor Lumber Company, filed suit yesterday in superior court against the company and its vice president, Thomas Winsor, seeking the appointment of a receiver to dissolve the partnership. The company, which operates a sawmill in Ballard, is reported to be in significant financial distress. McMullen alleges that the company is failing due to mismanagement by Winsor, who has been in charge of operations. With liabilities totaling $14,000 and assets reported to be insufficient to cover these debts, McMullen claims that Winsor has refused his requests to formally assign the property. The court is now asked to intervene and settle the partnership's affairs.
“Winsor has been in charge of it and it is being badly managed so that it is steadily losing money.”
Ballard's transformation from a rough-hewn sawmill center to a modern, dense urban neighborhood is framed by these foundational business disputes. The 'bust' cycle of the 1890s in Seattle was defined by these types of small-firm collapses, mirroring current concerns about the sustainability of local businesses in a rapidly changing economy.
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