Cotulla: Front Street Commercial Buildings

Unpaved commercial street with a post office and a druggist

Post Office in 1885. (Brush Country Museum)

Wood frame depot building with sign saying Cotulla next to tracks and rail cars

The depot saw shipping and passenger business. (Brush Country Museum)

Rail employees posing with sign saying Cotulla and Laredo 66.4 miles, Longview 422.1 miles

I.& G.N. employees. (Brush Country Museum)

Unpaved roads in commercial area with horses and carts hauling produce

Shipping onions. View of Front and Center Street intersection. ((Brush Country Museum)

Unpaved commercial street with tall building at end named M.J. Barlow and Company

Front Street starting at Carrizo. Center Street block begins at two story building. (Brush Country Museum)

Modern commercial street with many original buildings

Notice how many buildings have been restored on this block.

Modern commercial street with original, restored buildings

Corner of Front and Broadway.

Commercial street in the 1920s with row of brick buildings

Same buildings in the 1920s. Gaddis Pharmacy on the left is now Ben’s. (Brush Country Museum)

Photo labeled Gaddis Pharmacy, Cotulla Texas showing a soda fountain, merchandise cases, and deer head mounts covering the tops of the walls

Interior of Gaddis Pharmacy. (Brush Country Museum)

Front Street Commercial Buildings, Front Street between Carrizo and Tilden Streets

Notice how the buildings frame the view of the courthouse beyond. Community planners made a conscious effort to push town development as close to the railroad as possible to “put their best foot forward” for visitors arriving by rail. This commercial district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Several of Cotulla's Front Street historic buildings have been recently rehabilitated and sport new restaurants and a dance hall. One block west on Main Street, a mural visually depicts the history of Cotulla.

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