Several settlers came to the area around what is now Plano in the early 1840s. More people were attracted to the area as there were nearby facilities which included a sawmill, girstmill, and a store. Many names were rejected for the budding town (including naming it in honor of then-President Millard Fillmore), until the locals suggested the name Plano, which they mistook for the Spanish word for "flat," a reference to the terrain of the area. The name was accepted by the newly established post fffice and Plano was born.
In 1872, the completion of the Houston and Texas Railroad helped the city to grow, increasing the population to more than 500 by 1874. In 1873, the city officially incorporated. |