Roma Historic District

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.