Clinton is a canal town in Summit County’s southwest corner
Clinton exists because the Ohio and Erie Canal ran through it. The village was laid out in 1816 under the name Savannah, along the Tuscarawas River, and it was part of Stark County until Summit County formed in 1840.
Canal builders arrived in the mid-1820s, and the canal was first navigated on June 27, 1827. Clinton became a shipping point for wheat and bituminous coal, which arrived by the Messenger Canal feeder and went north by boat to Akron and Cleveland. The railroad came in 1873, and the 1913 flood left the remaining locks unusable.
Much of that history is still on the ground:
- The Clinton Ohio and Erie Canal Historic District, listed on the National Register in 2003, holds the ruins of Locks 2 and 3, wasteways, a guard lock dam and four original canal segments.
- Ten of the village’s canal, railroad and industrial resources are on the National Register.
- The 1847 Rhoads-Harter House at 7866 Main St. is the historical society’s headquarters and a Summit County Underground Railroad site.
- The Towpath Trail runs through the middle of downtown and on to the Stark County line.
Some of the oldest houses in Summit County
Clinton’s housing is older than almost anywhere else in the county. About 37% of the village’s roughly 500 homes were built in 1939 or earlier, and the median build year is 1954, according to the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 estimates.
The rest of the picture:
- About 99% of homes are single-family detached.
- About 89% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, and very few sit vacant.
- The median home value, as owners estimate it, is about $185,000.
- Residents are older too: the 2020 census put the median age at 51.9.
A house from before 1940 can raise questions about wiring, foundations and lead paint. Federal rules require sellers of homes built before 1978 to disclose any known lead-based paint and give the buyer an EPA pamphlet; our lead paint disclosure guide explains it. For wiring, see selling a house with old wiring.
Septic systems and the sewer question
Clinton has historically relied on private septic systems. In 2013, the village’s mayor told the Akron Legal News that a central sanitary sewer was needed to replace them and support business growth. We could not confirm how much of the village it now serves, so ask Village Hall (7871 Main St., 330-882-4782) about your street.
If your house is still on septic or a private well, Summit County Public Health requires an inspection by a registered contractor before it transfers. The result doesn’t block the sale, but a lender may want a failing system fixed first. The Summit County septic and well guide walks through the process.
Clinton does not have a point-of-sale housing inspection, according to a 2025 title-company list.
Northwest schools and shared services with New Franklin
Clinton is small enough that it shares services with its neighbor. As of 2013, the village contracted police protection from New Franklin and shared a fire station with New Franklin staffed around the clock. The village also enacted a 1% income tax, which its mayor called one of the last such enactments in Ohio.
Children attend the Northwest Local School District, a K-12 district based in Canal Fulton that also serves parts of Stark County.
The village sits off State Route 21. The Ohio Veterans’ Memorial Park, opened in 2009 at 8005 Cleveland-Massillon Road, lists the 3,095 Ohioans who died during the Vietnam era on its west wall.
Nearby New Franklin and the Summit County page cover the surrounding area. If you’d like to sell a Clinton house without taking on its repairs, request a written offer.