Poland was briefly called "Maple Valley" and "Russia Flats" when it was first settled around 1800 on land owned by Samuel Wright. The first post office, established in 1838 in the hotel at the corner of Main and Case streets, was known as "Danielsville", after Nahum Daniels, who owned a large amount of land in the village. The first postmaster, Joseph Benchley, soon changed the name because of the confusion with Dansville in western New York. The simplest explanation for the name "Poland" is that the village is adjacent to and southwest of Russia, New York, just like Poland in Europe. In 2019 Poland Central School caught on fire from a wiring issue in the basement.