Cotulla, Texas, La Salle County seat. (original) (raw)
Downtown Cotulla is now designated as Cotulla Historic District
TE Photo, November 2001
Cotulla Ranch Letterhead Engraving
Courtesy GLO
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.
Cotulla, Texas Landmarks & Attractions
Cotulla old post card showing churches & courthouse
TE archive
The Methodist Church in Cotulla
TE Photo, November 2001
More Texas Churches
Cotulla Cemetery
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.
That's why they're called headstones
The grave of Janie McMahon
TE Photo, November 2001
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
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
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