The Orient House, later Hotel Orient, located at 208 E. Mason Street in Polo was originally built in 1855 by Pearson Shoemaker. The hotel sat east of the I. C. R.R. It was later called the Parkside Hotel and then the Polo Hotel.

With four hotels already in business, a farmer, Pearson Shoemaker, in 1855 saw opening for another, one that featured big home cooked dinners for hungry seekers after their fortunes in the new country. He was still the proprietor of his Orient House in 1878 and Mrs. Wm. R. Johnson, his granddaughter, remembered him; this fact places his operation at a much later date. The Orient House was destroyed by fire Dec. 11, 1903, to be replaced by the brick structure. The Orient House was done over, length added and a bay put on the south side but what year is not known. The old hotel was demolished in 2015 after sitting vacant for many years. Photo is believed to be from the 1920's

December 11, 1903: The fire bell was rung and the hose cart drawn by one horse with Will Brown in charge arrived at the scene and just about 2 a.m. connections had been made. The operation was delayed 15 minutes by the approach of an ICRR freight train over which tracks the hose was laid. The structure was burned to the ground.