The Tocal area is the traditional land of the Gringai clan of the Wonnarua people, a group of Indigenous Australians.

[4] Some of the crops planted included wheat, barley, tobacco and grapes; there were also beef and dairy cattle, horses and merino sheep.

Alexander's family had been blacksmiths and farmers at Nhill, owning 5000 acres in the area before moving to Tocal.

The will was mostly disregarded as unworkable, but was implemented in spirit by eventually providing for the establishment of the CB Alexander Agricultural College, Tocal, under the Presbyterian Church.

Originally built as a weekender, the building is a Colonial Georgian country house, with a five bay façade.

Built of sandstock brick with a slate roof, the house is four rooms square with French doors onto a three-sided verandah.

A separate kitchen with dining rooms are connected to the homestead by a covered walkway at the rear of the house.

CB Alexander installed one of the first residential electric elevators in the homestead (since removed), which was powered by a kerosene generator from one of the outbuildings.

With European settlement, much of the land was cleared of natural timbers and shrubs for building materials and to allow for crops and grazing.

More native species, including tall spotted gums, are being planted but the area will remain grazing land.

Whilst floods can inconvenience farm operations, the sediment left behind as the floodwaters recede has been vital to the fertility of these flats.