Three rival canal villages became Navarre in 1872
Navarre is the result of a merger. Bethlehem was laid out on a bluff above the Tuscarawas River as early as 1806. Rochester followed in 1833, about 300 yards west, and in March 1834 James Duncan of the Massillon Rolling Mill Company laid out 19 lots for Navarre on the canal bank between them. The Ohio Canal made the spot worth fighting over: wheat was the main export, and canal access raised grain prices and land values.
The three villages competed so hard that merchants undercut each other on goods and overpaid for grain, and many failed after the panic of 1837. The Bethlehem post office was renamed Navarre in 1843, and in 1872 the three agreed to incorporate as one village under that name. The village takes its name from the Navarre region of Spain.
That history is still in the street grid. The old cores sit close to the river and the canal line, and that is where most of the oldest houses are.
Navarre’s housing by the numbers
Navarre is an older, smaller-lot village set inside a township that looks quite different. Census estimates for 2020-2024:
| Navarre village | Bethlehem Township | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | About 935 | About 2,671 |
| Median year built | 1946 | 1978 |
| Built 1939 or earlier | About 41% | About 22% |
| Mobile homes | About 1% | About 23% |
| Owner-occupied | About 67% | About 80% |
| Median home value (owner estimate) | About $146,000 | About $187,300 |
Two things stand out. About 13% of the village’s housing units are vacant, against about 11% in the township. And nearly a quarter of the township’s homes are mobile homes, so if you are selling one, our page on selling a mobile home in Ohio covers titles and land.
When a sewer line is available, the septic has to go
The Stark County Health Department has required an inspection of every household sewage treatment system before transfer since January 2008. One rule matters for houses on the edge of a village like Navarre: if the property has access to a sanitary sewer, which usually means a lateral has already been run to the lot, the owner must connect and abandon the septic system properly.
That can surprise a seller who has used a working septic for decades. An inspector or a registered service provider can do the inspection, and the health department’s own inspections usually take about a week. A buyer who plans to make that connection after closing can take the house as it stands.
Schools, river and trail
Navarre students attend Fairless Local Schools. The district covers about 100 square miles of southwestern Stark County. Its three schools now sit together on Navarre Road in Sugar Creek Township, about 3 miles southwest of the village, and the new high school opened there in August 2023. The old Navarre elementary and the former Fairless High School in Navarre are no longer in use as schools.
The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail passes through, with four Navarre trailheads listed by the Canalway, including Navarre Bethlehem Park and Craig Pittman Memorial Park on Hudson Drive SW. Massillon is just up the river to the north, and Brewster is to the southwest.
Choosing between a listing and a cash sale in Navarre
A move-in-ready house near the river will usually bring more on the open market, and if that’s your house we’ll tell you so. A direct sale tends to fit the vacant house, the estate with an out-of-town heir, or the canal-era home that needs a roof and a furnace. County-wide matters such as the conveyance fee are on our Stark County page.
If you would like a number for your Navarre house, ask for a written offer and we will explain how we reached it.