Cotulla City Park

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Cotulla City Park, right there in La Salle County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a man who crossed an ocean and ended up putting his name on a whole piece of Texas. Joseph Cotulla, born in 1844, was a Polish immigrant who made his way to what is now La Salle County in 1865.

That is a long way to travel, any way you figure it, and he wasn't done yet. The town of Cotulla was founded in 1882, became the county seat in 1883, and Joseph, well, he donated the land for the courthouse and for the city park. The man gave the place its name and then gave the place its heart.

The park, in those early years, served as a campsite for travelers and ranchers. You can almost hear the fire crackling and the horses settling in for the night, strangers from across the brush country finding a patch of ground to rest on. Then, at the turn of the century, someone put up a bandstand.

Concerts, lectures, voices carrying out across the South Texas air. The 1930s brought a miniature golf course and playground equipment, kids running where cowboys once bedded down. Joseph Cotulla lived until 1923, long enough to see what a donated piece of ground can become.

And that park is still, to this day, a center of community life in Cotulla, just as he left it.

What the marker says

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.