[1] Milan was first settled in 1830, located at a point on the Saline River and on the Monroe-Saline plank road.

As commerce flowed along the plank road, Milan quickly grew.

[5] The structures in the Main Street Historic District are primarily commercial in nature.

However, the district also includes structures originally built as a hotel, city hall/fire station, post office, church, hospital, meeting hall, and theatre.

[7] It is a two-story gross-gable brick building; it originally housed the fire department on the ground floor and village offices on the second.