Cotulla, Texas
City in the United States in La Salle County
About Cotulla
Cotulla ( kə-TEW-lə) is a city in and the county seat of La Salle County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,718 as of the 2020 census.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Cotulla is governed
Form of government not yet listed.
0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Cotulla
Registered voters elect the officials below.
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Mayor
Executive
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The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
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City Manager / Administrator
Executive
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The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
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Police Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the police department.
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Fire Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the fire and emergency services department.
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Public Works Director
Administration & departments
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Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
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Finance Director
Administration & departments
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The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
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Planning & Zoning Director
Administration & departments
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Land use, zoning, building permits.
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Parks & Recreation Director
Administration & departments
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Parks, programs, and public facilities.
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City Council
Legislative
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The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
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City Clerk
Administration & departments
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Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
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City Attorney
Administration & departments
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The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
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Boards & Commissions
Legislative
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Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
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Municipal Court
Judicial
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Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
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Municipal Judge
Judicial
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Presides over the municipal court.
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Population over time
From 3,603 in 2010 to 3,718 in 2020 (+3.2%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3,718 |
| 2010 | 3,603 |
History
Immigrant Joseph Cotulla, who was reared in Silesia, then a part of Prussia, migrated to the United States in the 1850s. He joined the Union Army in Brownsville, Texas. He lived in Atascosa County, but arrived in La Salle County in 1868 to establish what became a large ranching operation. After learning that the International-Great Northern Railroad intended to lay tracks in La Salle County, he worked to establish the town that bears his name.
In 1881, Cotulla donated 120 acres of his land to the railroad, and in 1882, a depot was constructed there. In 1883, the town was granted a post office. The same year, Cotulla became the county seat by special election.
In 1928, after completing his freshman year at Southwest Texas State Teachers College, Lyndon Baines Johnson taught 5th, 6th, and 7th graders at the Welhausen School. He commented when he returned in 1965:
I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this Nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American. So here, today, back on the campus of my youth, that door is swinging open far wider than it ever did before.
Joseph Cotulla's great-grandson, William Lawrence Cotulla (born around 1936), a former storekeeper in Cotulla, is a rancher in La Salle, Dimmit, and Webb Counties. In a 2013 interview with the Laredo Morning Times, William Cotulla noted the community of his birth has changed completely in less than 80 years, having gone through several phases, beginning with emphasis on farming, then ranching, thereafter hunting leases, and now petroleum and natural gas through the Eagle Ford Shale boom. With declining gasoline prices, though, the Eagle Ford boom took a sharp downturn by the fall of 2015.
In 1973, two railroad locomotives collided in Cotulla, and three people were killed as a result. In 2008, the area around Cotulla burned in a huge grass fire.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.