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 Leocadia Leandro Garcia 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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"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."
More information on this historic structure from the City of Roma TX National Historic Landmark Nomination Form: (
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"3)John Vale/Leocadia Leandro García House
[Contributing]
102 Convent Street (ne corner, Convent and Water Streets)
Block 7, Lots 1 and 2
ca. 1850s
Built by John Vale, the two-story, sandstone dwelling combined
commercial use on its ground floor with residential use above.
The structure appears to be nearly contemporary with its neighbor
across the plaza, a structure also built by Vale. Roma's wharf
was to the immediate southeast.
No documentation exists supportive of exact, sequential dating
for the two Vale dwellings: the Vale-García house is of more
traditional Mexican type for the period and may reflect the
influence of the García family into which Vale married. A lime
stucco sheathes the air-hardened, locally quarried sandstone.
The roof was originally chipichil, but is now replaced in metal.
The Vale-García house faces the plaza with symmetrical, threebay
design of extreme austerity. Three entries detailed by
simple banded surrounds highlight the facade on the first floor,
with a centered balcony bracketed by two windows on the second
floor. Wrought-iron railing remains in place for the balcony.
The river (south) facade of the dwelling is also simple in its
detail, with centered lower and upper entries; the second-story
double door opens out onto a second wrought-iron balcony. The
rear (east) facade maintains the building's overall design with
both stories featuring a window/window/door rhythm. Again the
second-story doorway opens out onto a balcony.
Sanborn Insurance maps of 1894 and 1925 denote several key
features of the historic property. The maps delineate a balcony
in ell configuration for the plaza and river facades. This
balcony were likely added in the 1880s, similar to balcony
renovations for other mid-century buildings on the plaza. (See
map reference #s 1 and 13.) The two centered balconies extant on
the facades today are a subsequent modification. The Vale-García
home occupied a double lot with ell-wall enclosure of eight foot
height noted along the northeast and southeast. No walls
are noted along the river or plaza facades.
The Vale-García structure was described as a general store; at
some later point the building is known to have been converted to
a dance hall. Today the property's enclosing walls are partially
collapsed, but with the compound's configuration clear. The
structure is vacant. "