Beach City has some of the oldest houses in the county
More than half of Beach City’s homes were built in 1939 or earlier. The village’s median year built is 1938, which puts it among the oldest housing stocks of any place in Stark County. Census estimates for 2020-2024 count:
- About 396 housing units.
- About 53% built in 1939 or earlier.
- About 66% single-family detached and about 11% mobile homes.
- About 62% owner-occupied.
- About 17% vacant.
- A median home value of about $130,700 (owner estimate) and a median gross rent of about $630.
The vacancy figure is the one to notice. About one housing unit in six was empty during the survey period. Empty houses are hard to keep insured and easy to damage, and a long-vacant home also complicates the county septic inspection (see below). Our page on selling a vacant house goes through the risks.
A railroad name on Sugar Creek
The village was named for Henry Beach, a railroad official, and sits along Sugar Creek in southwestern Stark County, in Sugar Creek Township. Beach City counted 282 people in 1880 and peaked at 1,151 in 1960. The 2020 census found 940.
South of the village is Machan’s Rock, a cave said to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. Wikipedia lists Congressman Ralph Regula among the village’s notable people.
What the dam does, and what it doesn’t
Beach City Dam sits just southeast of the village on Sugar Creek, below the mouth of the South Fork. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built it in 1936 for flood control, and Beach City Lake is one of the ten permanent lakes in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District system.
The dam reduces flooding downstream, but it does not tell you whether your own lot floods. If water has come into your basement or yard, write it down and disclose it. A buyer who has seen flood-damaged houses will price it in. A seller who hides it risks a claim after closing. If water has already done damage, see selling a fire or water damaged house.
Empty house, septic inspection and the 30-day waiver
The Stark County Health Department requires a septic inspection before any house on a household sewage treatment system changes hands. A long-vacant house is harder to test because nothing has been flowing through the system. The department’s rules give buyers a choice:
- If the home has been empty 30 days or more, the buyer may sign a waiver so the inspection is done after the transfer. The buyer is then responsible for any corrections.
- If the buyer inspects anyway, obvious problems can still turn up, and the department may ask for another inspection once someone is living there.
This is one reason a vacant Beach City house often sells more easily to a buyer who already plans to renovate.
Schools and the county side of the sale
Beach City is part of Fairless Local Schools, which serves the village along with Brewster, Navarre, Wilmot and Sugar Creek and Bethlehem townships. The old Beach City elementary building is no longer a district school; students go to the Fairless campus on Navarre Road. Brewster is the next village up Sugar Creek.
Stark County’s probate court, tax rules and conveyance fee are covered on our Stark County page. If your house is in good shape, a listing may well bring more, and we’ll say so. If it isn’t, see how our process works.