(Maricopa County)

How the City of Tolleson got it name:

Tolleson, the hub of the west end of the Salt River
Valley, was founded in 1912 by Walter G. and Alethea
H. Tolleson, and incorporated in 1929.

In 1908, due to the ill health of their eldest son,
the Tolleson family migrated to Arizona from South
Carolina, and in 1910 purchased a 160-acre ranch at
the intersection of 91st Avenue and Van Buren Street
for $16,000. The old "Ten Mile Store" on the southwest
corner, having in the early days been the first stagecoach
stop en route to Yuma, was re-opened by Mr. Tolleson, and
formed the nucleus for the founding of the town.

The City's history nearly ended on April 19, 1948, when
gasoline storage tanks belonging to Farmers Oil and Supply
Company Exploded. Located in the heart of downtown Tolleson,
the "tank farm" conflagration, fueled by some 54,000 gallons
of gasoline, destroyed an entire city business block, several
residences, and injured more than 20 people. Firefighters
from Navy and Army installations, Tolleson, Glendale and
Phoenix battled the inferno for nearly two days before it was
brought under control. The early 1960s brought a rapid decline
of agridollars to the community as more modern methods and
machinery became available to area farmers. Hundreds of field
hands were no longer required for cultivation and harvesting.