Plano's Past

Early settlers encounter Indians.
Early settlers to the area now known as Plano were McBain Jameson and Jeremiah Muncey. They were killed by Indians in 1844, but no further harm from Indians came to settlers moving into the area the following year. After a scouting trip in the 1840s, Kentucky farmer William Forman, moved to Texas with his family. In 1851 he purchased a survey from colonist Sanford Beck, built a general store, several businesses and opened a post office in his home.

Would you like Forman, Fillmore or plain?
The town established a post office in 1852. Names considered at the time for this sparsely settled community were Forman and Fillmore, for President Millard Fillmore. But postal authorities approved Plano, Spanish for “flat,” which was suggested by Dr. Henry Dye. Dye understood “plano” to mean “plain,” which is how he described the terrain surrounding the community. Plano was platted and incorporated in 1873, and elected a mayor and board of aldermen. Plano’s first newspaper, the Plano News, was published in 1874, and the public school system was organized in 1891.

Connected to Dallas by the Shawnee Trail.
The Shawnee Trail, a cattle trail crossing west Collin County, was the main conduit between Plano and Dallas until 1872, when the Houston and Texas Central Railway connected the two cities.

Fire and the railroads!
Early Plano industries included plumbing and stove plants, a garment factory, and an electric-wire factory. A fire destroyed fifty-two buildings, reducing Plano to a tent city in 1881. But new markets opened by 1888, when the
St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway Company intersected the Houston and Texas Central, and Plano became a retail outlet for productive blackland-prairie farmers. By 1890 the town had two railroads, six churches, two steam gristmill-cotton gins, three schools, and two newspapers. In 1908 Plano became an interurban stop on the Texas Electric Railroad.

Plano grows by leaps and bounds.
Throughout the early and mid-20th century, the population of Plano continued to increase due to the growth of Dallas and migration to the Sun Belt. By the mid-1980s Plano became the commercial, financial, and education center for Collin County. Three colleges made Plano their home. A major snack-food corporation, a satellite communication system, computer manufacturers, and the Dallas Americans professional soccer team also called Plano home.

Little evidence remains of Plano’s rural farming past.
Plano’s population grew from 1,200 in 1890 to 222,030 in 2000, and boasted 7,726 businesses, which include one daily newspaper and one radio station. As of 2003, Plano boasted 3,245 lane miles of roadways and alleys, over 65,000 housing units, more than 14 million square feet of retail space. Plano has a nationally recognized school system, outstanding police, fire and public safety department, as well as an outstanding parks system. Old meets new in this All American City, from the revitalized historic downtown area to it’s malls, major corporations and DART light-rail system. Each year the city hosts balloon races, for which it’s nicknamed the Balloon Capital of Texas.

Today the Farrel-Wilson Farmstead Museum (Heritage Museum), which occupies a former sheep ranch, provides the only evidence Plano was once a small rural farming community.

Source: The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin (http://www.lib.utexas.edu) and the Texas State Historical Association (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu). Copyright ©, The Texas State Historical Association, 1997-2002 Last Updated: July 23, 2002