Welcome to the City of Tolleson

Courtesy City of Tollson

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Tolleson can trace its roots back to a stage stop store at 91st Avenue and Van Buren.

In 1908 Walter C. Tolleson moved his family West from their home in South Carolina for his eldest son’s health. Two years later the family purchased a 160-acre ranch. The acreage included the Ten Mile Store which was purported to be the first stage stop between Phoenix and Yuma. The store was closed at the time of the purchase but would become a center piece of the new town site envision by Tolleson.

Dividing the acreage up into lots, Tolleson chartered a train from the Arizona Eastern Railway on the Buckeye Short Line and enticed prospective buyers to come and see for themselves the potential of the area. A free lunch and the possibility of being a lucky winner of a five dollar gold piece were also added as incentives to make the trip into the desert.

Tolleson’s vision paid off. Eighty lots were auctioned off at $50 apiece that day and the new city was on its way.

A new store, which incorporated a post office, was built at Monroe Street and 91st Drive later that year.

To ensure the educational future of Tolleson’s youngest residents, Walter Tolleson contributed an extra five acres of land to the five purchased for an elementary school and high school.

Today Tolleson is a growing community of 6, 680 people and is home to numerous warehouses and distribution centers.

City of Tolleson 9555 W Van Buren St. Tolleson, AZ 85353 Ph: (623) 936-7111 TollesonAz.org