Former Phillips 66 Gas Station -- Cotulla TX
N 28° 26.189 W 099° 14.160
14R E 476890 N 3145578
This former Phillips 66 gas station is located near what used to be the intersection of the US 81 (Main Street) and the TX SH 72 (now the SH 97) at the courthouse square in downtown Cotulla
Waymark Code: WMPGZD
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/30/2015
Views: 5
Before the interstate highways came along, US highways went through the downtowns of all the small towns along their routes.
The US 81 in Texas was laid out in 1927 as a border to border road, meaning it began at the Texas Oklahoma border and ended at the US-Mexico border in Laredo. Cotulla was one of the hundreds of towns the US 81 passed through on its way south, and, like in most of the towns it went through, the US 81 in Cotulla was also known as Main Street.
The SH 97 was another early Texas hihwway, being laid out in 1927.
It looks to us like this former Phillips 66 gas station dates from the 1920s to 30s, when the US 81 was the main road through town.
The Texas State Highway Commission approved the I-35 in 1962. It was the first Interstate in Texas.
Between 1962 and 1991 the US 81 ran in conjunction with the I-35. In 1991, the Texas Highway Commission eliminated all of US 81 except for an 80 mile stretch from the Oklahoma State Line to Decatur, where the US 81 merges into the I-35W. See (
visit link)
Today this old gas station has been repurposed as a community as a health center and WIC benefit center.