Adapted from the 1983 House Tour Guide.

During the second quarter of the 19th century the Flushing-North Hempstead
Toll Road Company was organized to improve the highway which is known today as Northern Boulevard and to keep it passable throughout the year. The Company was free of debt by 1850 and it continued to prosper until the extensive development of the railroads during the 1870's provided a level of speed and dependability with which the Toll Road could not compete. However, during the half century or so of its operation the availability of the Toll Road was a most important link between North Hempstead and New York and was a major factor in the growth and development of North Hempstead. During the period of the operation of the Toll Road, toll-gate houses were erected at suitable intervals to collect the tolls from the wagoners.

Originally there were two toll-gate houses in Roslyn, the West Toil-Gate House near the intersection of Old Northern Boulevard and West Shore Road and the East Toll Gate House which still stands in the Roslyn Cemetery just north of Northern Boulevard in Greenvale.

The West Toll Gate was located on the West Turnpike (now Old Northern Boulevard) just west of the intersection with West Shore Road. 1873 Beers, Comstock & Cline map.