South Main Street District

South Main Street in Poland, Ohio, preserves a stretch of village life from the 1800s. The district covers about 13 acres across parts of four blocks and is crossed by Yellow Creek. It contains a late Colonial tavern, 24 houses in Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival and High Victorian Italianate styles, a Second Empire commercial block and a painted carriage barn. Fowler's Tavern, built in 1804 by Jonathan Fowler, is a rare early stone building in Mahoning County, and William McKinley enlisted in the Union Army in front of it in 1861. The Greek Revival house at 308 South Main, built in 1845, later belonged to Judge James B. Kennedy and now serves as the village hall. Poland grew quickly in the early 1800s because of its high ground and its location on an important road. The street remains intact because the village avoided the heavy industrial growth seen elsewhere in the valley. Several buildings have been adapted for apartments, offices and shops.