The story
Read it all →How Tonawanda came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Tonawanda.
The city's name is from the word Tahnawá•teh in Tuscarora meaning 'confluent stream'.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Tonawanda
Tonawanda’s post office opened in 1825, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #398 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listings are the US Post Office-Tonawanda and the Kibler High School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
1825first post office
2on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
10famous people
Quick answers
How Tonawanda began
When was Tonawanda founded?
1825
The Tonawanda post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 2,812 in 18702020 census: 15,129201 years
How historic is Tonawanda?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tonawanda post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tonawanda’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tonawanda is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #398 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tonawanda’s overall grade.
Founding era1825, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194037.8% of homes (±4.7) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 48%
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Tonawanda’s 1.3 sits below most of its state (23% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Tonawanda’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18975 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1965. Watch Tonawanda change.Boom and bustPeaked at 21,898 in 1970; 15,129 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1910, drew every building in Tonawanda.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Tonawanda’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tonawanda’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Tonawanda on the map, 1897 to 1965
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tonawanda. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1897Tonawanda sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tonawanda.
People over time
Tonawanda, census by census
Peaked at 21,898 in 1970; 15,129 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tonawanda’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Tonawanda in 1926
Passages that mention Tonawanda, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Kenmore. Erie County, New York1926 · page 90Read the page →
Read the text
TOWNSHIP OF TONAWANDA Erie County was erected by an act of legislation on the 2nd day of April 1821, comprising all the territory of the old county (Niagara) lying south of the middle of Tonawanda Creek. The Town of Tonawanda was set off from the town of Buffalo on the 16th day of April 1836, and included the present township and Grand Island. Grand Island was formed into a separate town by the board of supervisors of Erie
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Kenmore. Erie County, New York1926 · page 92Read the page →
Read the text
The township of Tonawanda situate between the southerly boundary of the city of Tonawanda and the northerly boundary of the city of Buffalo, (ouf of which the village of Kenmore has been taken) is one of the richest townships of its 92
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Tonawanda, 1825 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1825Post officeThe Tonawanda post office opens
- 1897
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1900
In the archiveErie Canal - 1934
Born hereAlcide M. Lanoue is born here - 1947Born hereThomas Perry is born here
- 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 21,898
- 1980
Born hereDarren Fenn is born here - 1987
Born hereBobby Shuttleworth is born here
By decade
Tonawanda, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s1 item
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumDate unknown1 to date
Date?
2018
2018Every building
Tonawanda, building by building, 1886–1910
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 19Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewErie Canal, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tonawanda’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
2 historic places in Tonawanda
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
US Post Office-Tonawanda
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Colonial Revival1
Classical Revival1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →10 famous people were born in Tonawanda
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
T
Thomas PerryAmerican mystery and thriller novelist · b. 1947B
Bert LewisAmerican professional baseball pitcher · b. 1895
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Tonawanda’s post office has been open since 1825.
Gone or out of use
I-290 Drive-InlocaleKibler Junior High Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tonawanda
CitySaint Francis
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Tonawanda’s history
What year was Tonawanda founded?
The Tonawanda post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tonawanda rank for history?
Tonawanda is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #398 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Tonawanda?
Two places: the US Post Office-Tonawanda (listed 1989) and the Kibler High School (1999).
How old are the homes in Tonawanda?
38% of Tonawanda’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1951.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.