The arsenal that built modern Windham
Windham’s story turns on 1940. That year the federal government reserved 21,418 acres in eastern Portage County for the Ravenna Ordnance Plant and the Portage Ordnance Depot, known together as the Ravenna Arsenal. Over 14,000 people worked there during World War II, and Windham was chosen to house many of them.
The growth was enormous. Windham’s population rose more than 1,100% by the 1950 Census, the largest growth of any U.S. municipality in that count, and peaked at 3,946. It has been falling since, to 2,209 in 2010 and 1,666 in 2020.
Windham itself is much older than the arsenal. Families from Massachusetts founded it in 1811, and it was incorporated as a village in 1892.
Camp James A. Garfield next door
The arsenal made ammunition at peak capacity in World War II and last produced it during the Vietnam War. Later it handled demilitarization and research until 1992, and the site became a Superfund cleanup. On October 18, 2018, it was renamed Camp James A. Garfield. It’s now an Ohio Army National Guard training base on about 93% of the old ammunition plant land.
In Windham Township, the training site covers most of the southern half of the township. The land is under federal jurisdiction, so it isn’t part of the housing market at all.
What a shrinking village means for a sale
Windham has lost more than half its 1950 population, and home values reflect that. The Census ACS shows:
- The median home value (owner estimate) is about $128,700, among the lowest in Portage County.
- About 68% of homes are owner-occupied.
- The median build year is 1973.
Lower values mean less room for repairs in a retail sale. A buyer using an FHA loan may need repairs done before closing, which a seller can’t always pay for. Our page on FHA appraisal repair requirements explains what lenders look for. We buy as-is, so the repair list comes off the price on paper instead.
Windham Township and its mobile homes
Windham Township surrounds the village almost entirely. The village became independent of it in 1993. The township covers 23 square miles and was first owned by Caleb Strong, later governor of Massachusetts, under the name Strongsburg. The Beckett Land Company bought about 14,825 acres in 1810, and the name Windham comes from Windham, Connecticut.
Interstate 80, the Ohio Turnpike, nearly cuts the township in half, with no interchange in either the township or the village. About 25% of township homes are mobile homes, in the Census ACS, and the median build year is 1975. If you’re selling one, see our mobile home page. Whether the home is titled as a vehicle or recorded as real estate with the land changes the paperwork, so find the title or the deed before the walkthrough.
Windham Exempted Village School District runs an elementary school, a middle school and Windham High School, which dates to 1883.
The drive from Akron to Windham
Windham is in eastern Portage County, a longer drive from our office on East Turkeyfoot Lake Road in Akron, and Bob Donahue makes it for every walkthrough. It takes 15 to 20 minutes, and the written offer shows how we got the number. County-level details such as the conveyance fee and the probate court are on our Portage County page. To begin, send us the Windham address.