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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.
Cotulla
welcome sign TE photo
Downtown Cotulla TE Photo
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| 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 their 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.
The
Methodist Church as it appears in 2001 TE Photo
An old postcard of Cotulla
TE Postcard Archives |
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| In
1914 Cotulla had 1,800 citizens and most of the towns interests were in ranching
cattle and sheep.
An
early Cotulla Business Letterhead
Courtesy Texas General Land Office Archives
and Documents Dept. |
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| 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.
The
1931 La Salle County Courthouse > |
| | | The
1928 High School
TE Photo |
| In
1941 Cotulla had over 3,600 people and in the 50's the local economy got a boost
with the discovery of oil.
The Brush Country Museum is sponsored
by the La Salle County Historical Commission. |
| | | Museum
and water tower
TE Photo |
| 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. |
| | | That's
why they're called headstones
The grave of Janie McMahon TE Photos |
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Cotulla
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
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| 1935
Flood scene of the
Nueces River, Highway No. 2 south of Cotulla | |
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