The waymark coordinates for the National Register Roma Historic District were taken at the Guerra Store on Convent Ave.
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.
From the US National Register Nomination Form on the Texas Historical Commission website: (
visit link)
"The boundaries of the proposed historic district are drawn to include the nucleus of major architecturally significant structures by Enrique Portscheller, the lesser stone and adobe buildings typical of the Rio Grande valley and a peripheral area to act as a buffer zone to protect the old Roma community from encroachment by the highway on its east boundary and the bridge approach on the south boundary.
Outstanding historic properties included within the boundaries of the district include the following:
1. Manuel Guerra House and Store. 1878-1884. (HABS TEX 3146). This is among the finest Portscheller-built structures in Roma. The building has commercial retail space on the first floor and residential space above. To the rear of the building, adjacent to Hidalgo Street, is a long one story building which was probably a warehouse for the store.
The principal entrance to the structure is at the corner of the Plaza and Hidalgo Street, and the corner of the structure is cut to accommodate the double-door entrance. This doorway is flanked by brick pilasters set on a low plinth base. The pilasters support molded brick capitals, a brick architrave and a molded brick cornice. In addition to the corner entrance, there are five other double- door entrances on the first floor of the structure. These openings have brick flat arches with a small molded brick cornice above.
On the upper level, a cast-iron balcony with repetative panels of intricate lace-like filigree surrounding the plaza facade and the Hidalgo Street facade. The alternating windows and doors are framed by a composition of flanking pilasters and molded brick entablatures similar to the main entrance on the ground floor.
The building is crowned by a well-proportioned cornice with a cyma recta, fillet and dentil course of molded brick. The finely proportioned architectural embellishments and superior craftsmanship of the structure reveal Portscheller's uniquely personal style which utilizes classical orders similar to classic elements used in the early Renaissance period.
2. Nestor Saenz Store. 1884. (HABS TEX 3124). This outstanding structure designed by Enrique Portscheller is an excellent example of Rio Grande molded brickwork. The classical detail of the corner pilasters, the entablature and cornice, and doorway compositions are similar to those architectural elements found in the Guerra Store. This L- shaped one-story building has a roof of pine beams overlaid with pine decking. The interior woodwork is manufactured from local cypress.
3. Antonia Saenz House. Ca. 1884. This one-story brick Rio Grande townhouse possesses an outstanding molded brick cornice, as well as molded window and door compositions. The fine proportions and the exploitation of the design potential of the molded brick ornament marks the house as an outstanding example of Portscheller's skill as a master builder.
4. Church of Our Lady of Refuge of Sinners. (HABS TEX 3135). The church was designed by Pierre Yves Keralum, who joined the order of Mary Immaculate in 1852 after practicing architecture in France. The church, of which only the tower remains, was a brick Gothic Revival structure.
5. Old Roma Convent. Ca. 1880. This on a-story brick convent has bayed ends, a porch across the main facade, a diminutive wooden cupola and the fine brickwork and architectural detailing which characterizes Portscheller's work.
6. Pablo Ramirez House (now the Knights of Columbus Hall) 1884. This building is a two-story stucco-covered brick structure designed by Enrique Portscheller.
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."
8. Manuel Ramirez House (now Ramirez Hospital). The oldest portion of this structure was erected in 1853, by E. R. Hord. The house served as military headquarters during the Civil War. The structure has been greatly enlarged and altered.
9. Tino Ramirez House. 1850, 1880s. Local information indicates that a structure on this site was begun in 1850. The story brick residence and commercial building appears, on the basis of the brickwork and style, to post-date the Guerra store.
10. Noah Cox House. Ca. 1850. The two-story stucco- covered stone residence was built by John Vale. The gable roof is a later addition.
11. Leocadia Leandro Garcia House. (HABS TEX 3131). Ca. 1850. Built by John Valle, the house is similar in style and construction to the Noah Cox House across the Plaza. Originally, the house contained commercial space on the ground floor with residential space above. The house was later remodeled as a building for "bailes", or "fandangos."
The historic district of Roma-Los Saenz is a fifteen block; area located on a bluff above the Rio Grande. The southwestern, boundary of the Roma Historic District is formed by Hidalgo Street between Garfield and Zaragosa streets, a straight line from the intersection of Zaragosa and Hidalgo streets to the bluff above the Rio Grande; the boundary line then follows the edge of the bluff along the Rio Grande. The southeastern boundary of the district runs from the International Bridge crossing the Rio Grande through the middle of the block bounded by Juarez Alley, Estrella Street, Bravo Alley and Hidalgo Street, to the mid- point of the block bounded by Juarez Alley, Grant Street, Bravo Alley and Estrella Street. The northeastern boundary is formed by a line bisecting the blocks between the above mentioned southeastern corner to a point at Garfield Street equidistant between Grant and Estrella streets. The northwest boundary runs from this point to the intersection of Garfield Street equidistant between Grant and Estrella streets. The northwest boundary runs from this point to the intersection of Garfield and Hidalgo streets.
Roma-Los Saenz, located on a high bluff above the Rio Grande, in the extreme southern portion of Star County across the border from Mier, Mexico, was originally a part of Jose de Escandon's colony. The first of Escandon's settlement in the lower Rio Grande was founded in February, 1749, and it was named "Nuestra Senora de Santa Ana de Camargo". In succession by 1753, Reynosa, Dolores and Revilla (Guerrero) and Mier were established. Soon afterwards families from these settlements founded Roma and Rio Grande City on the north side of the Rio Grande.
Joaquin and Juan Angel Saenz were probably the first settlers in the Roma area. In 1760 three members of this colony settled on the bluff at Roma, naming their new community "Buena Vista." The present name of "Roma" was adopted by 1848, after Texas had become a state in the Union. According to the Handbook of Texas, the name Roma, for Rome, was given to a mission built in 1751; Los Saenz honors a Spanish captain, Miguel Saenz, who received a Spanish land grant in 1767. Local tradition, however, attributes the name to several other sources. One of the versions credits the town's name to Major Richard Roman, who served in the area and distinguished himself in the Mexican War.
Roma was an important shipping point on the Rio Grande and mercantile enterprises flourished until steamships were outmoded by the railroads and highways. The era between the Mexican War and the Civil War as well as the Reconstruction Years, brought growth and prosperity to the community. Particularly during the later priod the town had a colorful history. The smuggling of contraband became a highly organized, and if not completely respected, certainly a condoned flourishing business that amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. With this prosperity came an influx of bandits, among which Abraham Garcia, "The White Cavalier," and Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, "The Red Robber of the Rio Grande: were included.
Fortunes gained in quasi-legal activities financed the construction of the fine new homes and warehouses built during the post-Civil War period. Today, the charm and character of the town results largely from these homes and stores, many of which are superb brick structures designed and built by Enrique Portscheller, a builder and master brick mason.
Heinrich (Enrique) Portscheller
A biographical sketch of Portscheller is contained in the photo-data book report on Roma prepared by the Historic American Buildings Survey, prepared in 1962 by Eugene George.
Heinrich Portscheller was born in Germany about 1840. After spending some time with the Ussian army, he presumably deserted with a fellow soldier by the name of Frederick Ellert. Ultimately, the two soldiers found themselves in the port of Veracruz Mexico, about 1865. They were immediately impressed into the Imperial Army of Maximilian. It is probable that they were assigned to an extremely mobile unit labeled "contre-guerrilla" operating against the Liberal guerrilla units in northern Mexico.
As Maximilian's position deteriorated, most of his European support and supporters deserted. It is not known precisely when Ellert and Portscheller deserted, but both appear to have been in the Rio Grande City area in 1866. Both men participated on the Liberal side under General Escobedo in the Battle of Santa Gertrudis, near the village of Camargo on the 15th of June, 1866. This battle was a decisive victory for the Liberals.
After the battle, Portscheller's whereabouts are undetermined until 1879, when he married Leonard Campos in Mier (a Mexican town near Roma). It is probable that Portscheller developed his skills as a brick mason during this period. The principal brick buildings at Ringgold Barracks were begun in 1869 and completed in 1875. Portscheller was probably employed as a mason in this work.
Portscheller first resided in Mier and, by 1883, had moved across the Rio Grande to Roma. Among his first works in Roma was the Rafael Garcia Ramirez House, built shortly after 1881.
In Roma, Portscheller, in partnership with a Mr. Margo and a Mr. Perez, established a brickyard for the manufacture of a very attractive salmon buff, sand struck, large (2-3/4 by 4-1/8' by 8-3/4 inches) brick.
Portscheller resided and worked in Roma until 1894, when he moved to Laredo where he died in 1915.
The structures, with their handsome classical entablatures and pilasters of molded brick, which Portscheller built in Roma between the early 1880s and 1894, are a unique and sophisticated collection of buildings on the south Texas border.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962, 1963, 1965.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FILE IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER"