The Roma Historic District was created in 1972, and is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.
The district encompasses most of downtown, from roughly US 83 on the east to the Rio Grande on the west, and from West Garfield Ave on the North to West Bravo Street (the road leading to the Roma- Cd. Miguel Aleman International Bridge) on the south.
Most of the buildings in the district were built by late 19th-century local architect Heinrich Portscheller, who has a street named for him downtown and a historic marker in his honor, both located in this historic district.
The Raphael Garcia Ramirez House is listed as a contributing building to this National Register Historic District.
From the US National Register Nomination Form on the Texas Historical Commission website: (
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7. Raphael Garcia Ramirez House. Ca. 1881. (HABS TEX 3134) I (Now part of the Ramirez Hospital). The Ramirez House is a one-story brick Rio Grande townhouse. "The pattern work on the brick parapet implies an excellent knowledge of the design potential of a material as related to a climate which enjoys strong sunlight. The offsets of the doors and windows, the proportions of the double doorway as related to the simple facade can only be the work of a master."
More information on this historic structure from the City of Roma TX National Historic Landmark Nomination Form: (
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"12)Raphael García Ramírez House [Contributing]
Enrique Portscheller, Builder (attributed)
ne corner, Convent and Hidalgo
Block 8, Lot 1
ca. 1881
The one-story brick building at the northeast corner of Convent
and Hidalgo, on the plaza, is configured in an ell plan, and
originally functioned in both domestic and commercial use.
Facing the plaza, the two-bay residence is articulated with the
classical detailing associated with architect Portscheller. A
window/door/door/window rhythm accents the primary facade, with
simple surrounds. A parapet with dentilated molded-brick cornice
caps the building. Along Hidalgo Street an ell wing continues
the structure. Flat tile-brick roofs cap both sections of the
building.
The 1894 Sanborn maps denoted the Hidalgo component as
the local barbershop. A frame porch stood to the rear of the
Hidalgo wing, with two free-standing brick buildings also on the
property. By 1925, Sanborn surveyors annotated both units of the
building as in commercial use, with the larger of the 19th century
brick outbuildings (along the plaza) in use as a drug
store. Although the lot is not mapped as historically walled,
the plaza and Hidalgo facades effectively shielded the interior
of the property in a wall-like manner. An ell-configured awning
and banqueta are mapped for the property in 1894, with evidence
of the awning and a segment of the banqueta still present along
Hidalgo. Today the structure is vacant."