Poland Academy, an elite private school established on this site in 1830, graduated its most notable student, William McKinley, in 1859; he later became the 25th president of the United States. In 1862 the school became Poland Seminary and was one of the first schools in northeast Ohio to admit girls on an equal basis. Ida Tarbell, who later became a prominent national journalist and author, served as Preceptress of the Seminary from 1880 to 1882. William Calhoun graduated from the Seminary and became the U.S. Ambassador to China from 1910 to 1913. The school became a public institution in 1909 when it became Poland Seminary High School. In 1972 it was the site of Poland Junior High School and in 1985 of Poland Middle School.