Cotulla City Park

The town around the park grew fast. The railroad depot went up in 1882 and Joseph Cotulla sold lots, and by 1883 the town had a post office, a jail, a hotel and stores and had won the county seat in a special election over its rival, La Salle. By 1890 it counted about 1,000 residents, two weekly newspapers, two churches, a bank, a corn mill and a cotton gin. In 1892 it had a hotel, four general stores, three saloons, a meat market and two groceries. A free public library was built in 1937.

What the plaque says

Cotulla City Park Polish immigrant Joseph Cotulla (1844-1923) migrated to present-day La Salle County in 1865. The town of Cotulla, founded in 1882, became the county seat in 1883, and Joseph donated land for the courthouse and city park. In its early years the park served as a campsite for travelers and ranchers. At the turn of the century a bandstand was built, and concerts and lectures were held at the park. A miniature golf course and playground equipment were added in the 1930s. The site of many cultural and social events, Cotulla City Park has been a center of community life. (1982)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Brush Country Museum — steps away
  La Salle County's local museum, with a segregated-schools display that sets the scene for the Welhausen School, where Lyndon Johnson taught Mexican American children in 1928-29.
• Chaparral Wildlife Management Area — 14 mi
  A 15,200-acre South Texas brush country research tract in La Salle and Dimmit counties, open to the public in spring and summer, with a short accessible trail and a long ranching past.

More markers nearby

• First Deep Artesian Well — steps away
• La Salle County — steps away
• First Presbyterian Church of Cotulla — steps away
• The First United Methodist Church of Cotulla — steps away