Plano

Located in the Blackfield Prairie area, it was originally settled (1845-46) by a group called Peters’ Colony (named after William S. Peters) who led investors in the early 1840s to acquire it from the Republic of Texas land grants. In 1851, the community acquired a post office; several names were proposed, eventually choosing Plano—which one major citizen understood as a Spanish word meaning “plain,” an apt
description of the terrain. The railroad reached Plano in 1872, and although the town was nearly destroyed by fire in 1881, it continued to develop into a small agricultural center in the cotton-producing and cattle-raising areas.

Due to the expansion of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Plano’s rapid population growth began in the 1960s when the population was less than 4,000. Plano is a financial and commercial center whose manufactures include compact discs, printed materials, metals, satellite communications equipment and baking equipment. Plano is the headquarters of Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo. The Heritage Farm Museum occupies a former sheep farm. Plano hosts a popular hot air balloon festival called “Balloon Capital of Texas,” every September.