Cotulla honors Maltsberger with bronze at plaza

Family members of Florence Chiles Maltsberger gathered with city representatives at Cotulla’s historic Plaza Florita on Friday, December 12, to unveil a bronze in the late advocate’s honor and to celebrate the completion of new features at the site.

Attendees at Friday’s event heard from Mayor Sandra Luna and descendants of Maltsberger of the decades spent rallying support for improvements in the quality of life for Mexican-Americans in Cotulla, the construction of the Welhausen School in 1925 and the establishment of the plaza in the 1930s as a community gathering place.

The Cotulla City Council used revenues from its hotel occupancy tax last year to commission the full-size standing bronze of Maltsberger, whose life of advocacy to the underprivileged was recognized by then-US Vice President Lyndon Johnson at her funeral in 1963. Johnson had served as a teacher at the Welhausen School in the late 1920s and shared his admiration for the staunch advocate’s support of Hispanic families – notably the children – of her community.

The bronze, crafted by renowned Texas artist Armando Hinojosa, was unveiled Friday on a purpose-built pedestal of local stone beside Plaza Florita on a property that has been developed this year with a seating area, additional parking spaces and a public convenience that serves the plaza during local events. Hinojosa is also responsible for the bronze of Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, depicted as he looked during his brief teaching career in Cotulla. The Johnson bronze was unveiled in 2019 and stands in front of the school.

Beside the newly paved area is Guadalupe Hall, formerly the property of the Catholic Diocese of Laredo, purchased two years ago by the city of Cotulla for restoration and repurposing as an events facility.

Plaza Florita and the adjoining school building – whose construction Maltsberger championed as a school board member – have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the US federal government for their significance to the Hispanic heritage of South Texas. The public park is now subject to a long-range development plan as part of the city’s Plaza Florita Historical District, which includes restoring the site to its original appearance of 1932, making repairs to commemorative benches, rebuilding some of its landscaping features, and moving later additions to an adjoining property.

“Florita was the nickname that the community bestowed upon Mrs. Maltsberger for her legendary good deeds benefiting the Mexican-American community in Cotulla,” Terry Gay Puckett wrote in a feature on the advocate’s legacy in a 1996 publication of ‘South Texas: The Newsletter.’ “They named the plaza, which was patterned after the lovely piazzas in Mexico, after her.”

Maltsberger is credited with having chaired an association for development of the plaza, hosting a variety of fundraisers that included dances, cake walks, carnivals, raffles and even cattle sales. Benches for the plaza were designed bearing the names of local families, and additional benches were designed as reminders of the community’s cross-cultural bonds, one dedicated to the Republic of Mexico, the other to the United States.

When first built, the site included walkways, a dance floor, water features and planters. A metal pavilion roof over a raised concrete slab, playground equipment, and a public restroom in a block house on the corner were added at the end of the 1990s with funds from the Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife.

The gazebo that stands in the center of the plaza, according to information provided in “Florita of the Texas Brush Country” by Alice Maltsberger Puckett, was obtained from a park on the west side of Cotulla, moved to the newly developed site and then decorated with plaster and stone by local artisans. The structure has been preserved and continues to undergo repairs as part of the city’s efforts to restore the plaza to its original appearance.

Attendees at Friday’s ceremony were treated to a luncheon at the plaza. The event was hosted by the Cotulla Main Street Program and City Hall.

Further development of the site, historic preservation of Guadalupe Hall and the nearby former Jimenez store, and use of the former Botanica Vasquez or Red Store property, demolished in 2024, will be undertaken with input and direction from the Plaza Association, whose volunteer members advise the city council of their wishes and design proposals.

All funding for the project’s various phases will be made through the city’s hotel tax revenues, which are mandated by the state of Texas to be used only for projects that boost the local economy by enhancing tourism. Cotulla City Hall has estimated its annual hotel tax collections at over a million dollars. Previous projects paid with the revenues have included the reconstruction of City Hall inside a preserved vintage service station on Main Street, restoration of the former Stockmens Bank and conversion to council chambers and office space on Front Street, downtown landscaping, and support for several local festivals.