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 Manuel Ramirez House is listed as a contributing building to this National Register Historic District. The oldest part of it was built by E. R. Hord.
From the US National Register Nomination Form on the Texas Historical Commission website: (
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"he 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:
. . .
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."
More information on this historic structure from the City of Roma TX National Historic Landmark Nomination Form: (
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13)Edward R. Hord Office/Manuel Ramírez House;
later, Ramírez Hospital [Contributing]
se corner, Convent and Estrella
Block 8, Lot 8
ca. 1853, 1880s
The two-story sandstone structure is one of the earlier major
commercial buildings built in Roma, with evolved use as a
dwelling and later as a hospital.
Edward R. Hord arrived in Roma shortly after the town came under
American jurisdiction. By the early 1850s he served as acting
attorney for the Mexican heirs of the porciones in their land
suits with the U.S. The Hord office later functioned as a quasimilitary building during the Civil War. Hord continued his
legal-political career in later life as a Representative to the
Texas Senate for the region, and eventually as a U.S.
Congressman. Sometime in the 1880s the Hord building was
converted to domestic use, with added molded-brick cornice and
wrought iron second-story balconies reflective of Portscheller's
design influence in Roma.
The 1894 Sanborn Insurance map delineated a full wrap-around
veranda; today single balconies are present. The original roof
is of chipichil construction. (See map reference #2.) In 1894
the building was noted as commercial, although quite probably the
structure was by that date in combined general store and
residence use. The 1925 Sanborns also annotated the structure as
in commercial (store) use, with a long, rectangular brick
building abutting it along the plaza and continuing the
designated function.
In its subsequent conversion to a hospital during the 1930s, the
interior of the building was altered, with outbuildings on the
lot and a component of the Raphael García Ramírez house renovated
for joint use. At this same time a Moderne unit was also added
to the property at the immediate east, along Estrella."