About Carlisle's History

Carlisle Elementary School was opened in the fall of 1984. It was named a Blue Ribbon School during the 1997-1998 school year. Carlisle is the youngest school ever to receive this national honor. In 1994, Carlisle was recognized by the US Department of Education for excellence in drug prevention. In 1996 the school began it's very successful Mentoring Program.

The school is named for Henry Bascom Carlisle. He was born in August, 1855 in Tennessee. Mr. Carlisle married Dona Norton, and in 1888 they moved to Denison and a year later to Plano. They had four children: Manley, Idalee, Julia, and Willie Glynne.

Mr. Carlisle started a grocery business located on the east end of Mechanic Street. In this store, there was always a cracker barrel open, a hoop of cheese with a cutter, and a pickle barrel. He bought produce, such as watermelons, by the railroad carload, and sold them right off the car. Squawking chickens were sold live and weighed on big scales. They also sold grain, hay, and cotton seed.

“Chiney” Williams delivered groceries in the small wooden wagon pulled by two mules stabled behind the Carlisle house, and children came by the store after school for a pickle or cookie. This was a favorite place for everyone when they came to town. By the mid 1890’s, his brother JM Carlisle joined him in business, and the store changed the name to Plano Grocery Company.

In the 1920’s, Willie joined his father’s business also. After forty-five years of selling on credit, the unpaid bills owed him and the Depression forced him out of business. Mr. Carlisle died in 1934 at the age of 78.