{"nrhp_refnum":"72001371","name":"Roma Historic District","other_names":["Roma-Los Saenz"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Properties along Estrella and Hidalgo Sts. between Garfield St. and Bravo Alley","address_restricted":false,"city":"Roma","county":"Starr County","state":"TX","lat":26.406496955500046,"lon":-99.01825585625497,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-07-31","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1993-11-04","areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Hispanic","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A fifteen-block historic district (about 27.5 acres) on a bluff above the Rio Grande in Roma (Roma-Los Saenz), Starr County, Texas, containing brick, stone and adobe buildings mostly from 1850 to 1884.","why_significant":"The district is significant for its architecture, especially the molded-brick stores and houses designed and built by Enrique Portscheller between the early 1880s and 1894, described as a unique and sophisticated collection on the south Texas border. It also reflects Roma's role as a Rio Grande shipping and mercantile center, whose post-Civil War prosperity financed the fine homes and warehouses.","narrative":"Roma's historic district covers fifteen blocks on a bluff above the Rio Grande, directly across from Mier, Mexico. It holds brick, stone and adobe buildings typical of the Rio Grande valley, many dating from 1850 to 1884. The most notable are the stores and houses designed and built by Enrique Portscheller, a German-born master brick mason who worked in Roma from the early 1880s until 1894. His buildings, including the Manuel Guerra House and Store and the Nestor Saenz Store, feature molded-brick pilasters, entablatures and cornices drawn from classical elements. Roma grew as a shipping point on the river, and profits from trade, including organized smuggling, financed the post-Civil War homes and warehouses. The district was drawn to include these major buildings, lesser vernacular structures and a buffer zone against the highway and bridge approach. Present uses include commercial, residential and religious functions, and the condition is rated fair. The Church of Our Lady of Refuge of Sinners survives only as a tower.","period_of_significance":"1850-1884","architect_builder":"Enrique (Heinrich) Portscheller; also Pierre Yves Keralum (church designer) and John Vale (builder of two houses)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked fair and unaltered, on its original site; the district is occupied with commercial, private residence and religious uses. Of the Church of Our Lady of Refuge of Sinners, only the tower remains.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.682754-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/71/9733/40973371/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/72001371.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001371/074f041527-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001371/074f041527-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Eugene George, Jr., Photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_our_Lady_of_Refuge_of_Sinners,_North_end_of_Main_Plaza_on_Estrella_Street,_Roma_Creek_(Starr_County,_Texas).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eugene George, Jr., Photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_our_Lady_of_Refuge_of_Sinners,_North_end_of_Main_Plaza_on_Estrella_Street,_Roma_Creek_(Starr_County,_Texas).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973371","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7361485"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/starr-county/roma-historic-district-72001371/"}