The Village of Milan is a classic example of the high quality of life found in small town American. The Firelands was given as compensation to Connecticut families burned out and driven from their homes during the Revolutionary War. Earlier inhabitants of this new frontier were Moravian missionaries and “believing Indians” who called their riverbank home Pettquotting, now Front Street, Milan. The Village of Milan was incorporated in the State of Ohio on February 23, 1833. Other important Milan historical events included the opening on July 4, 1839 of the Milan Canal, connecting the Huron River below Milan to Lake Erie. The canal provided a vital transportation link for the abundant lands in the northern Ohio area, making Milan the 2nd largest grain exporting port in the entire world, second only to Odessa, Russia. The establishment of the early railroads put an end to the canal days throughout the United States but in 1847 another global altering event happened at 9 Edison Drive in Milan. Thomas A. Edison was born and spent his early formative years at this address. The importance of this historical event continues to be celebrated at this address in the form of the Edison Birthplace Museum.

Additional Milan historic information through collections and exhibits is available at the Milan Historical Museum, located a few doors down Edison Drive from the Edison Birthplace Museum.