The settlement gradually developed around a station on the Buenos Aires Western Railway, opened in 1889.
Leading local institutions include the Verdi Theatre (maintained by the Italian Society), the Bristol Theatre (maintained by the Hebrew Society), the Church of Our Lady of Carmen (1941), the José Ingenieros Cultural Center and Library, and El Bagual Traditionalist Center.
A leading center of sunflower seed cultivation, as well as of maize, sorghum, soy, and wheat, the city's largest employer is the Grobocopatel Brothers Company, a major Argentine exporter.
The National Sunflower Festival (Fiesta Nacional del Girasol), first organized in 1963, is held in Carlos Casares every November.
[1] The town also attracts tourism as the center of the Trail of Forts (Huella de Fortínes), historically known as the "Western Frontier of Buenos Aires Province."