The origins of the Poland China lie in the purchase in Philadelphia in 1816 by John Wallace, a trustee of the Shaker Society of Union Village in Warren County, Ohio, of four pigs of the breed or type known as Big China;[2]: 535 [3]: 193  it is possible that they were in fact of the now-extinct Bedford breed.

[3]: 193 The name Poland China was agreed on at a meeting of the National Swine Breeders Convention in Indianapolis in 1872;[3]: 193  at the same meeting the convention rejected the claim of David M. Magie, a successful Poland China breeder of the Austin-Magie Farm near Oxford, Ohio, to be the creator of the breed.

[5]: 5 [6] The first pedigree was drawn up in Blue Ball, Ohio, by W.C. Hankinson and Carl Freigau in 1876, and a herd-book was started in 1878.

[8] The Poland China usually displays the coloration of the Berkshire: solid black, with white points on the nose, tail and feet.

[4] The heaviest pig on record is a Poland China named Big Bill, who in Tennessee in 1933 was found to weigh 1158 kg (2552 lb), with a length of about 2.75 m (9 ft).