[5] Until two years after its foundation in 1871, it was known as Simancas, a barrio under the jurisdiction of the neighboring town of San Enrique, which was led by a Spaniard who was married to a woman named Carlota.

Legend has it that she was well-loved by the natives for her social works so that they named their settlement after her when it was created as a municipality near the end of the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines.

In line with the Spanish practice of adding an article before a proper noun, “La Carlota” became its official name.

Near the end of that decade was born in La Carlota one of its most famous children in the literary field: Adelina Gurrea.

He led the struggle against the American occupation that replaced the Spanish regime as a result of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish–American War and ceded control of the Philippines to the United States.

[7][8] From its humble beginnings as a small settlement, La Carlota has evolved into one of the major sugar-producing cities in the Philippines.

[9] In the same year, it was also named as one of the top-performing local government units in the Philippines, ranking eighth in the component cities category.

It is bordered in the north by Bago, in the east by Kanlaon Volcano and Canlaon of Negros Oriental, in the southeast by the town of La Castellana, in the southwest by Pontevedra and in the west by San Enrique.

English and Tagalog are generally understood and spoken by a large segment of the city's population, especially amongst the well-educated peoples.