The eastern border, marked by U.S. Route 62 (Niagara Falls Boulevard), is the town of Amherst.

In 2009, citizen environmental monitoring of air quality problems resulted in an investigation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into emissions from Tonawanda Coke Corporation (TCC), a producer of foundry coke located on River Road, Tonawanda.

[5][6] In 1998 TCC had been cited by the EPA for violations of oil spill prevention sections of the federal Clean Water Act following contamination of the nearby Niagara River.

[7] The investigations into air quality revealed TCC was using an unreported pressure-relief system to vent coke oven gases containing benzene direct to the atmosphere, operating a coke-quenching tower without pollution-control baffles, and dumping hazardous waste in the form of coal tar sludge.

[8] In July 2014 DuPont was fined $440,000 for violations of the CAA at its plant at Sheridan Drive and River Road.

[9] One of the Town of Tonawanda's best known landmarks is the blue Korean War-era Grumman F9F-6P Cougar Naval airframe displayed in Walter M. Kenney Field at the northwest corner of Brighton Road and Colvin Boulevard.

Retired U.S. Army General and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered the keynote address during the memorial's dedication ceremony before a crowd of more than 1,500.

[11][12] The Town of Tonawanda Historical Society operates a museum out of a former German Evangelical Church constructed in 1849.

The town is also home to St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Mount Saint Mary Academy, and Cardinal O'Hara High School.