Tucson is filled with streets named for people who made significant contributions to our community. That includes James Henry Toole, the person responsible for bringing the railroad to Tucson in 1880.
“We couldn’t wait to go see Toole Avenue,” said Pat Toole Cook.
She is the 91-year-old granddaughter of James Toole, the man Toole Avenue is named for.
“It’s amazing,” said Pat Toole Cook as she stood along Toole Avenue in downtown. “Really cool.”
Pat Toole Cook recently led a pilgrimage of four generations of direct descendants of James Toole back to Tucson from the Northwest.
KGUN 9 “There’s a lot of emotions between pride and just curiosity about what was going on for this man,” Erik Dawson said.
Dawson is Pat Toole Cook’s grandson — making him James Toole’s great-great-grandson.
“It is the 200th year of the anniversary of his birth,” said Dawson.
Born in New York in 1824, James Henry Toole took part in the California Gold Rush in 1849.
He joined the Union Army in 1861, rising to the rank of lieutenant while stationed in Tucson. After the Civil War, he stayed and became an influential businessman.