Local events in Windham
Nothing is posted for Windham itself yet; here is what is on within 10 miles. All local events in Windham
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Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
Lakes near Windham
The history under the water: the valley before, the dam, the stories. All Ohio lakes
How Windham began
Windham grew out of the Becket Land Company's 1811 settlement of the surrounding township: sixteen Massachusetts families organized in Becket, Berkshire County in September 1810, bought Town 4, Range 6 from Gov. Caleb Strong of Massachusetts for $1.76 an acre, and sent four young men ahead on foot to build the first cabin, arriving March 16, 1811. The township was called Strongsburg, then Sharon (1813, after Gov. Strong's unpopular Federalist wartime politics), before taking the name Windham in 1820. The village incorporated in 1892, after Windham Academy — Ohio's 44th chartered academy, opened 1835 — had already come and gone by 1853. The village's defining transformation came during World War II: after the U.S. Army began quietly buying options on farmland south of the Erie Railroad in August 1940 for what became the Ravenna Arsenal, giving families as little as thirty days to vacate homes and harvest crops, Windham was chosen in 1942 to house arsenal workers, and its population grew 1,148.7 percent in the 1940s, the largest percentage population surge of any municipality in the United States in that decade. The village separated from Windham Township in 1993. Today it has 1,666 residents (2020), down from a 2010 peak of 2,209.
Settled March 16, 1811 (four advance settlers: Elijah and Oliver Alford, Ebenezer O. and Nathan H. Messenger), incorporated 1892, by The Becket Land Company, sixteen Massachusetts families organized September 11, 1810 at Thatcher Conant's house in Becket, Berkshire County.
Where the name comes from
Windham takes its name from the surrounding township, itself renamed for Windham, Connecticut, the home of some of the original 1811 Becket Land Company settler families, after earlier being called Strongsburg (for principal proprietor Gov. Caleb Strong of Massachusetts) and then Sharon in 1813, when Strong's unpopular Federalist opposition to the War of 1812 made settlers unwilling to keep his name.
Before the town
No Native American village, camp or mound site specific to the village of Windham is documented in the sources consulted.
Timeline
- — Sixteen men meet at Thatcher Conant's house in Becket, Berkshire County, Massachusetts and form a company to buy and settle a Western Reserve township; the sale of Town 4, Range 6 (about 14,845 acres at $1.76/acre) from Gov. Caleb Strong closes that November.
- — Four young men sent ahead on foot with a sled and horse, Elijah and Oliver Alford and Ebenezer O. and Nathan H. Messenger, arrive and build the township's first cabin, on Lot 84.
- — The township, informally called Strongsburg, is formally set apart and renamed Sharon, since proprietor Gov. Caleb Strong's unflinching Federalist opposition to the War of 1812 had made his name unpopular with Reserve settlers.
- — The township's name changes a final time, from Sharon to Windham.
- — Windham Academy is chartered February 19, Ohio's 44th chartered academy.
- — Windham Academy closes.
- — Windham High School is founded.
- — The village of Windham incorporates.
- — Men come to landowners south of the Erie Railroad asking for purchase options on their farms, unable or unwilling to say why the government wanted the land; this eventually takes about two-fifths of Windham Township, including some of its best farms, with owners given as little as thirty days to vacate homes, sell livestock, and dispose of unharvested crops.
- — Windham is chosen to house Ravenna Arsenal workers, driving a population surge of 1,148.7 percent over the decade, the largest of any US municipality in the 1940s.
- — On November 22, a train derails at Windham after juveniles reverse a track switch; engineer Raymond Wilcox is killed.
- — Windham village becomes legally independent of Windham Township on October 12.
Stories
A wartime boom, and its long fade
Windham was a modest rural village until 1940, when the U.S. Army began quietly buying options on farmland south of the Erie Railroad for what became the Ravenna Arsenal, a munitions complex that would eventually employ more than 14,000 people through World War II. The 1957 county history describes the human cost plainly: landowners were approached without explanation, given as little as thirty days to vacate, and left to wonder where they would go, how they would pay for a new start, and how they would even harvest crops already in the ground; loads of household goods, hay, grain and machinery followed by cattle, horses and mules made for what the history calls 'a heart-breaking sight that brought tears.' In 1942 the Army chose Windham itself to house a share of the displaced land's replacement workforce, and the village's population exploded — growing 1,148.7 percent over the course of the 1940s, a percentage increase larger than any other municipality recorded in the United States that decade. The boom did not last: by 2020 the village's population, 1,666, had fallen well below even its 2010 level, part of a long, slow decline common to small industrial and arsenal-adjacent towns across the region once the wartime and Cold War demand that built them eased.
A switch, reversed
On the night of November 22, 1973, a freight train approaching Windham ran into a track switch that had been reversed — not by mechanical failure, but by juveniles who had tampered with it. The train derailed, and engineer Raymond Wilcox was killed in the wreck. The incident stands in local memory as a stark reminder of how a small act of vandalism on rural rail infrastructure, the kind that ran through dozens of small Portage County villages largely unwatched, could turn fatal in an instant.
Photographs
Photo: JeffBillman, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org
Water
Mostly private wells The water here
- Windham Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (6 wells)
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Windham's boundary: 1 fire or EMS station, 3 public schools, 1 library, 1 museum, 1 police station, 2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities and 6 spill cases. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Windham Volunteer Fire DepartmentWindham
- Address
- 9601 East Center Street, Windham, OH 44288
- Coordinates
- 41.23539, -81.04439
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Public schools (3)
-
Katherine Thomas Elementary School3.5 of 5 stars · Windham
- Address
- 9032 Maple Grove Rd, Windham, OH 44288
- School district
- Windham Ex Vill School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 220
- Report card, 2025-26
- 3.5 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 68.9%
- Ohio building IRN
- 022558
- NCES school ID
- 390456602325
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Windham High School3 of 5 stars · Windham
- Address
- 9530 Bauer Ave, Windham, OH 44288
- School district
- Windham Ex Vill School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 106
- Report card, 2025-26
- 3 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 64%
- Four-year graduation rate
- 97.4%
- Ohio building IRN
- 041723
- NCES school ID
- 390456602326
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Windham Junior High School3.5 of 5 stars · Windham
- Address
- 9530 Bauer Ave, Windham, OH 44288
- School district
- Windham Ex Vill School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 158
- Report card, 2025-26
- 3.5 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 67.2%
- Ohio building IRN
- 071381
- NCES school ID
- 390456602327
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NCES EDGE public school locations 2024-25 and Common Core of Data 2023-24 (type, students, teachers); Ohio School Report Cards 2025-26 (Department of Education and Workforce), matched by name within the district.
Public libraries (1)
-
Windham BranchBranch · Windham
- Address
- 9005 Wilverne Dr, Windham, OH 44288
- What it is
- Branch
- Library system
- Portage County District Library
- Open
- 2,496 hours a year, 52 weeks
- Building
- 2,802 sq ft
- System's visits, FY2024
- 110,916
- System's loans, FY2024
- 409,503
- People the system serves
- 106,087
- Phone
- (330) 326-3145
IMLS Public Libraries Survey (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2024 (outlets and their systems). Any Ohio resident can get a free card at any Ohio public library.
Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)
-
Windham Historical SocietyHistorical society · Windham
- What it is
- Historical society
- City
- Windham
- Coordinates
- 41.23864, -81.04896
Search Wikipedia ↗ IMLS Museum Data Files (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
The museum list is IMLS's 2018 file; a museum may have closed or moved since.
Source: IMLS Museum Data Files, 2018.
Police stations (1)
-
Windham Police DepartmentWindham
- Address
- 9083 North Main Street, Windham, OH 44288
- Coordinates
- 41.23908, -81.04953
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures, police stations, corrected and completed by hand (September 2026). The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction, not by distance.
Facilities reporting toxic releases (2)
-
C & B RecyclingToxics Release Inventory · Windham
- Address
- 8784 Snow Rd, Windham, OH 44288
- County
- Portage County
- Status
- Reports to the Toxics Release Inventory
- EPA program ID
- TRI_OFFSITE_327
- EPA registry ID
- 110070690124
EPA facility record ↗ EPA Facility Registry Service (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Harbison Walker Refractories PlantToxics Release Inventory · Windham
- Address
- 9686 E Center St, Windham, OH 44288
- County
- Portage County
- Status
- Reports to the Toxics Release Inventory (open)
- EPA program ID
- 44288HRBSNEASTC
- EPA registry ID
- 110001623002
EPA facility record ↗ EPA Facility Registry Service (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Toxics Release Inventory reporters. Reporting a release is required of large users of listed chemicals; it is not by itself a violation.
Spills reported since 2021 (6)
-
Formaldehyde (Ch20)2025-06-26 · Windham
- Reported
- 2025-06-26
- What spilled
- Formaldehyde (Ch20)
- Where
- Windham, Portage County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2506EPA0001067
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Fuel Diesel / Diesel Fuel (Vehicle On Or Off Road)2023-10-14 · Windham
- Reported
- 2023-10-14
- What spilled
- Fuel Diesel / Diesel Fuel (Vehicle On Or Off Road)
- Largest amount reported
- 150 gallons
- Where
- Windham, Portage County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2310EPA0001775
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Oil Hydraulic Fluid(S)2023-06-27 · Null
- Reported
- 2023-06-27
- What spilled
- Oil Hydraulic Fluid(S)
- Where
- Null, Portage County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2306EPA0001056
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Oil Petroleum Not Otherwise Specified (Nos)2026-03-16 · Windham
- Reported
- 2026-03-16
- What spilled
- Oil Petroleum Not Otherwise Specified (Nos)
- Where
- Windham, Portage County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2603EPA0000409
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Aluminium (Al)2026-03-16 · Windham
- Reported
- 2026-03-16
- What spilled
- Aluminium (Al)
- Where
- Windham, Portage County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2603EPA0000404
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Oil Petroleum Not Otherwise Specified (Nos)2026-02-13 · Windham
- Reported
- 2026-02-13
- What spilled
- Oil Petroleum Not Otherwise Specified (Nos)
- Largest amount reported
- 1 gallons
- Where
- Windham, Portage County
- Ohio EPA district office
- NEDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2602EPA0000164
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: Ohio EPA emergency response spill reports, 2021 to September 2026, one point per case where Ohio EPA placed it. A report is what the caller or responder recorded; amounts are often blank or estimated.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Windham, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44288 Windham | 48% | Mostly private wells | 3.0 pCi/L average radon | Parcel list only | Windham Exempted Village · 3 stars overall | 2.0% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Windham, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Auditor of State record
- No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
- Financial Audit, 2024, released 2026-03-24
- Financial Audit, 2023, released 2025-08-26
The county
Portage County: 15 ZIP codes, 29 cities, villages and townships, 169,745 people.
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Windham, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 1.20 in
- 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-29
- rain so far in 2026
- 35.7 in
- about normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 29.6 in
- a normal year brings 55.0 in
- a normal year
- 43.0 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 1.20 | — | 29 |
| September 2026 | 4.49 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 4.64 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 5.12 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 1.99 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 5.13 | 0.2 | 31 |
| April 2026 | 6.84 | 0.0 | 30 |
| March 2026 | 3.65 | 0.9 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.65 | 5.0 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.94 | 23.5 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 2.32 | 16.0 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 1.53 | 7.3 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2011 — 59.3 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1963 — 25.1 in |
| Snowiest year | 1910 — 101.1 in |
| Wettest day on record | 14 September 1979 — 4.14 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 20 April 1901 — 15.40 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 26 November 1950 — 20.27 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Windham, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
48,879 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-29. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-10-31): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-10-31 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Environmental permits and filings
What Ohio EPA has on file for Windham: permits, inspections, violations, cleanups and the state loans behind sewer and water work. Every line links to the agency's own document.
- facilities and sites on file
- 10
- those placed on the map inside Windham
| Program | Facilities and sites |
|---|---|
| Air pollution | 3 |
| Hazardous waste | 2 |
| Contaminated-site cleanup | 1 |
| Public drinking water | 1 |
| Source-water protection | 1 |
| State water loans | 1 |
| Wastewater and stormwater discharge | 1 |
| Date | Facility or site | What |
|---|---|---|
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge violation resolved | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge report | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water report | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water plan | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge report | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge notice of violation | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge inspection | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge report | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge report | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water letter | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water notice of violation | |
| HARBISON-WALKER REFRACTORIES CO WINDHAM WORKS | Air pollution violation resolved | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water withdrawn | |
| WINDHAM WWTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge report | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water notice of violation | |
| WINDHAM VILLAGE PWS | Source-water protection report |
Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.
Quick answers
What county is Windham, Ohio in?
Windham is a village in Portage County, Ohio, with 1,666 residents.
When was Windham, Ohio founded?
Windham was settled March 16, 1811 (four advance settlers: Elijah and Oliver Alford, Ebenezer O. and Nathan H. Messenger); incorporated 1892. Founders on record: The Becket Land Company, sixteen Massachusetts families organized September 11, 1810 at Thatcher Conant's house in Becket, Berkshire County. Source
How did Windham, Ohio get its name?
Windham takes its name from the surrounding township, itself renamed for Windham, Connecticut, the home of some of the original 1811 Becket Land Company settler families, after earlier being called Strongsburg (for principal proprietor Gov. Source
What ZIP code is Windham, Ohio?
Most of Windham is in ZIP code 44288.
Where does Windham, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Windham (Windham Village): Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Windham, Portage County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/windham/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
