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COTULLA, TEXAS
La Salle County Seat, South
Texas
28°26'3"N 99°14'11"W (28.434144, -99.236343)
U.S. Interstate Hwy 35
27 miles N of Encinal
68 miles N of Laredo
81 miles SW of San Antonio
ZIP codes 78001, 78014
Area code 830
Population: 3,718 (2020)
3,603 (2010) 3,614 (2000) 3,694 (1990)
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Downtown Cotulla
is now designated as Cotulla Historic District
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
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Cotulla Ranch
Letterhead Engraving
Courtesy
GLO
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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town was named
for Joseph Cotulla, a Polish immigrant from Panna
Maria who gave land to the International-Great Northern Railroad
in order to induce them to stop on his land. In 1882 the depot was
built and Joseph sold lots in the new town he modestly named after
himself.
By 1883 the town had a post office, jail, hotel and various stores.
That year - a county election declared Cotulla to be the county seat
(over the rival town of La Salle),
and by 1890 there were 1,000 Cotullans that read two weekly newspapers,
went to two churches, drank in one saloon, and kept their money in
one bank.
Three sheriffs are said to have been killed in gunfights, although
Sheriff Joseph Tumlinson (January 1893) may have been a suicide.
In 1914 Cotulla had 1,800 citizens and most of the towns interests
were in ranching cattle
and sheep.
In the prosperous 20s - new schools were built. When the Great Depression
came to town Cotulla's population stood at over 3,000 and surprisingly
stayed at that level through the 30s.
Their first library was built in 1937 and in the early 80s Ida and
Ben Alexander donated the Alexander Memorial Library.
In 1941 Cotulla had over 3,600 people and in the 50's the local economy
got a boost with the discovery of oil. |
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Cotulla, Texas
Landmarks & Attractions
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Cotulla old
post card showing churches & courthouse
TE archive |
The Methodist
Church in Cotulla
TE Photo,
November 2001
More Texas Churches
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Historical Marker:
N side Rt. 648, E of 1435, at cemetery gate
Cotulla
Cemetery
Land for this cemetery was first given by Joseph Cotulla, the town's
founding father. The earliest marked grave is dated 1882. Numerous
graves bear the date 1886, when smallpox struck La
Salle County. Many community leaders, including Joseph Cotulla,
and the Rev. V. E. Covey, early Texas educator, are buried here. The
cemetery was originally divided into Mexican and Anglo-American sections.
In 1941 six acres of land were added to the first site. Under the
care of the Cotulla Cemetery Association since 1915, this is the chief
burial ground in La
Salle County.
1981 |
Jessie McMahon
Grave Statue
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
The Cotulla
Cemetery is on the North side of town and contains the family plot
for town founder Joseph Cotulla.
Other notable headstones in the cemetery are an unusual life mask
of a man in the Hispanic section and a statue erected to a young girl
- probably from a prominent family. |
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That's why they're
called headstones
The grave of Janie McMahon
TE Photo,
November 2001
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Shaw grave site
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
William Ferdinand
Evans grave & historical marker
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
Elizabeth A.
Gilmer tombstone
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
Hillje tombstone
with cactus
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
Cotulla, Texas
Chronicles:
Bloody
Christmas by C. F. Eckhardt
The Murder of LaSalle County Sheriff Charles B. McKinney
The
Texas Onion
"It's generally accepted that sweet onion production in Texas
can be traced back to a single packet of seed from Bermuda being
planted near Cotulla in 1898. ..." more
1935
Flood
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| 1935
Flood scene of the Nueces River, Highway No. 2 south of Cotulla |
Tractor
TE Photo,
November 2001 |
| "La
Salle - the temporary county seat just across the tracks from
Cotulla to which lost the seat election in 1883 (that's why the post
office shut down then). The first postmaster switched from La
Salle to become the first postmaster at Cotulla. The person who
wrote the letter used his stationery and scratched out the corner
card. The La Salle PO was only
in existence for slightly less than two years." - John
J. Germann |
| "A very
old Cotulla postmark - a mere one year after its founding." -
John J. Germann |
La
Salle County 1920s map showing Cotulla on the Nueces River and
International-Great Northern Railroad
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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