McKinley historical marker dedication at 11 Saturday in Poland

POLAND

Celebrate Poland celebrates both the history of the village and the United States, so reminding everyone that President William McKinley once lived and moved about here seems right on target.

At 11 a.m. today, an Ohio historical marker will be dedicated at the site of his boyhood home at 210 South Main Street, now Home Savings and Loan.

But the village has other sites where McKinley spent time — at the Poland Academy, for instance. And many of the homes along Main Street carry markers of their own, indicating the year they were built — many of them in the mid-1800s, when the McKinley family came to town.

The 25th president, born in 1843 in Niles, came to Poland in 1852 to attend school and left in 1861 to serve in the Civil War.

On Friday night, Celebrate Poland was mostly about giving thousands of children and their families an excuse to enjoy a good old-fashioned parade and get in the mood for the Fourth of July.

Read more about the event in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.