Carlisle began in 1917 when the company founder, Charles S. Moomy, opened up the Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company. The company so named for its initial location of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In early 1918 the company began production of bicycle inner tubes. This expanded into automobile inner tubes and the company continued to grow until 1929.
In 1972 Carlisle expanded into Europe for the first time and this marked its first international endeavour as well. The Carlisle branding and logo known today come from this expansion.
In 1994 Carlisle acquired its first Chinese tire plant in Shenzen, China and began Chinese tire manufacturing.
In 2013 The Carlisle Transportation Products division was bought by American Industrial Partners and changed into the Carlstar group. This group produces carlisle branded tires as ATV, Garden and Specialty tires only.