Tolleson

History

The city was incorporated in 1929 and named after founders Walter G. Tolleson and his wife Alethea H. Tolleson. The Tollesons moved to the area in 1910, buying a 160-acre ranch at the intersection of 91st Avenue and Van Buren Street. Walter Tolleson reopened the Ten Mile Store which was the first stagecoach stop and general merchandise store in route to Yuma from Phoenix. The store was located on what is now the intersection of 91st Drive and Monroe Street. In 1912, the Tollesons subdivided their ranch, allowing more people to buy their land. In an effort to market his new community as a good opportunity for farmers, Mr. Tolleson chartered a train and provided free lunches for anyone to make the journey. He also gave away five dollars' worth of gold to better entice people. Eighty lots were sold at a price of $50.00 per lot. Leon Tolleson, Walter's brother, became the first postmaster of the development in 1913. The with rural mail route operated out of Walter's general merchandise store for a time before a stand-alone post office was built at what is now 91st Avenue and Van Buren Street, where it is still located today. The 1980s marked the entry of Fry's Food and Drug and Albertson's Distribution Centers that generated spinoff industrial development to Tolleson. These distributors showed other businesses the strategic placement of Tolleson in moving supplies and products due to its close proximity to Phoenix as well as California, allowing for easy shipment of imports coming from the west coast. Tolleson also sits along Interstate 10, Union Pacific Railroad and State Route 85, as well as the newly constructed Loop 202 only 3 miles to the east creating an efficient transporting environment. Tolleson is an employment center for the West Valley, hosting over twenty…

Geography

Tolleson is located on the western side of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The community lies just south of I-10. The city of Avondale lies approximately to the southwest, and Fowler, a former unincorporated community within the Phoenix city limits, is to the east. The Agua Fria River is about to the west. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Tolleson has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity