1808Military
Post-Revolutionary War white settlement at Tonawanda began with Henry Anguish, who built a log home in 1808.
1811History
He added to the hamlet in 1811 with a tavern, both on the south side of Tonawanda Creek where it empties into the Niagara River.
1825Architecture
The hamlet grew slowly until the opening of the Erie Canal, completed in the course of the creek in 1825.
1836Government
The Town of Tonawanda was incorporated in 1836.
1873Government
The company was founded in 1873 with a leatherboard mill by Jonas Spaulding and his brother Waldo in Townsend Harbor, Massachusetts.
1898Disaster
On September 26, 1898, a tornado struck the City of Tonawanda.
1900Culture
After Jonas Spaulding's death in 1900, his sons (by then living in New Hampshire, where they had corporate headquarters at Rochester) continued to operate these mills successfully.
1902History
Spaulding and Sons banner in 1902.
1904Government
This corporation fell apart, and in 1904 the village was incorporated as the City of Tonawanda.
1911History
Operating in Tonawanda from 1911 to 1992, it became the major employer in the city.
1912History
Operations began on April 1, 1912, with 40 employees.
1913Economy
They added a fourth leatherboard mill in Milton (second in this community) in 1913.
1916Infrastructure
== Sports ==
Tonawanda was home of the Tonawanda Kardex Lumbermen, a professional football team active between 1916 and 1921, best known for its brief one-game stint in the Nati...
1918Infrastructure
Next the section of the canal from Tonawanda to Buffalo was abandoned in 1918.
1924Economy
Around 1924, the sons changed the name of the company to the Spaulding Fibre Company.
1955Culture
After Huntley Spaulding, the last of the three brothers, died in November 1955, the Spaulding Fibre Company became part of a charitable trust previously set up by Huntley and hi...
1956Architecture
In 1956, the Tonawanda plant completed an expansion that doubled the paper mill and the vulcanized fibre-making capacity of the plant.
1957History
Potter died on September 27, 1957.
1961Economy
The 50th anniversary of the Wheeler Street Plant in 1961 was marked by a special 22-page section in the Tonawanda News.
1966Economy
In 1966, the charitable trust sold the Spaulding Fibre Company to Monogram Industries.
1984Economy
In 1984, Monogram Industries sold the Spaulding Fibre Company to Nortek.
1988Economy
In 1988, Nortek changed the company name to Spaulding Composites.
1992Economy
Spaulding Composites closed the Tonawanda plant on August 24, 1992.
2000History
== Demographics ==
At the 2000 census, there were 16,136 people, 6,741 households, and 4,361 families residing in the city.
2006History
In 2006, the Erie County Development Agency contracted for demolition of the derelict facilities.
2010History
(This event is documented with a handful of videos on YouTube.) Cleanup of the site was declared complete in August 2010.