Mantua Station: a railroad village on the Cuyahoga
Mantua village was laid out in the 1840s as Mantua Station, a stop on the railroad. Settlers had arrived in the surrounding township decades earlier, in 1798. The Cuyahoga River runs through the southern part of the village. Every year Mantua holds its Potato Festival, which has run for more than 45 years.
The village is small. The Census ACS counts about 661 residents and about 391 housing units, and only about 61% of homes are owner-occupied, so rentals make up a good part of the village. The township’s notable natives include Lorenzo Snow, a later president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Mantua, Utah, is named after his hometown.
Some of Portage County’s oldest houses
Mantua village’s housing is older than almost anywhere else in the county. In the Census ACS:
- The median build year is 1938, tied with Brady Lake for the oldest in Portage County.
- About 56% of homes were built in 1939 or earlier.
- About 17% of housing units were vacant.
- The median home value (owner estimate) is about $179,200.
That vacancy figure stands out. An empty old house costs money every month: taxes, insurance, utilities and the risk of frozen pipes. If you’re carrying one, our page on selling a vacant house walks through the options, and vacant house insurance in Ohio covers why a standard policy may not protect an empty home.
We buy these houses as they are. Old foundations, an outdated furnace or a house that hasn’t been touched in decades don’t need fixing first. If the house is part of an estate and full of a lifetime of belongings, see selling a house full of stuff. No cleaning out is required before we buy.
Mantua Township, the bog and bigger lots
Mantua Township wraps around the village on three sides. The village became independent of the township in 1993. The township covers about 26 square miles and is named for Mantua, Italy, which Napoleon besieged in 1796. East of the village, the Mantua Bog and Marsh Wetlands State Nature Preserves are part of the Mantua Swamp, a National Natural Landmark since 1976.
Township homes look very different from village homes:
- About 94% are owner-occupied, and about 90% are single-family detached.
- The median build year is 1976.
- About 10% are mobile homes.
- The median home value (owner estimate) is about $277,000.
A well-kept township house on acreage can do well on the open market, and we’ll be honest when that’s your better route. Where a cash sale tends to help is the farmhouse that needs a roof and a septic upgrade, or the mobile home on its own land.
Crestwood schools
Mantua is home to the Crestwood Local School District. The district says it covers three townships, Hiram, Mantua and Shalersville, and the two villages of Mantua and Hiram, about 75 square miles that are mostly rural.
Selling a Mantua house to a buyer based in Akron
Our office is on East Turkeyfoot Lake Road in Akron. Mantua sits in the north of Portage County, but Bob Donahue drives up for every walkthrough, which takes 15 to 20 minutes. We put the offer in writing and explain the repair numbers. For an inherited house, the estate side runs through the probate court in Ravenna, covered on our Portage County page. When you’re ready, ask for an offer on the Mantua property.