Alfred and Mary Toll Residence

Alfred Toll operated a lumber business in Hannibal, Missouri for twenty years before moving to Kansas City in 1886 and, as President of the Badger Lumber Company, earned a fortune. As a result, the Toll family built one of the largest mansions on Armour Boulevard, a street lined with grand homes built by Kansas City's wealthiest residents.

Alfred Toll, a lumber magnate and the grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Isaac DeGraff of New York, built the historic Kansas City home in 1906-1907. He lived there with his wife and family after gaining a fortune running the Badger Lumber Company. The home stood among many mansions on and near Armor Boulevard in Kansas City. 

Born in Schenectady, New York, in 1832 to immigrant parents (a Swedish father and Dutch mother), Alfred moved with his family to Michigan as a child. He spent most of his youth and early adulthood going back and forth between Michigan and Fort Wayne, Indiana (including opening a general merchandise store in Fort Wayne). In January of 1863, Alfred married Mary Lee, whose brother, Col. Charles N. Lee, served as superintendent of the Union Station in Hannibal. In 1866, Alfred and Mary Lee moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he opened a flour mill and sawmill, the precursor to his investment in lumber that eventually gained him a fortune. 

The Badger Lumber Company opened in Hannibal in 1873 with Alfred at the helm, and then he ran the same company in Kansas City in 1886. The company proved wildly successful and provided the Toll family with immense wealth. By 1906, the couple built the historic two-and-a-half-story mansion on Armour Boulevard, a street lined with numerous grand homes built by Kansas City's elite, but the Toll residence stood as one of the largest. Alfred and Mary Lee lived with their son, daughter-in-law, grandson, three granddaughters, and seven servants. 

The Toll's son, Phillip, took over the house until the Kansas City Art Institute purchased the building. In 1933, the American Assurance Association, which owned the building at that time, remodeled the structure extensively, part of a trend of Armour Boulevard mansions transitioning into commercial properties, which speaks to their size. Its most recent (and current) tenant comprises the offices of the National Catholic Reporter. 

Gardner, Tony. "Nomination Form: Old Hyde Park East Historic District." National Register of Historic Places. mo.gov. 2004. https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/04000527.pdf

"The heyday of the block of Armour south to 36th from Walnut to Warwick." Midtown KC Post. 2016. http://midtownkcpost.com/the-heyday-of-the-block-of-armour-south-to-36th-from-walnut-to-warwick/

Uguccion, Ellen J. "Nomination Form: Alfred Toll House." National Register of Historic Places. archives.gov. 1983. https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/media/63817625/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MO/83001022.pdf