Casa Del Rio in Roma Texas

Casa Del Rio in Roma Texas by Debra Martz ... more

by Debra Martz

Title

Casa Del Rio in Roma Texas

Artist

Debra Martz

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Casa Del Rio in Roma Texas by Debra Martz
Casa Del Rio, originally the Leocadia Leandro Garcia House, is listed as a contributing building to the Roma Historic District in Roma, TX. The Roma Historic District was created in 1972, and in November of 1993 was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.

Most of the buildings in the district were built by late 19th-century local architect Heinrich Portscheller, a skilled mason from Prussia. However, this house and one other was built in the 1840's by John Vale. It is said to have been a general store downstairs and residentual living upstairs. Later, just a general store and at one time it served as a dancehall. A wrought-iron balcony encircled the entire second floor in its earlier years. Just beyonds its southern property is the Rio Grande which is the dividing line between Texas and Mexico. When Roma became part of the United States in 1848, this was the first general store in the community.

It has been restored beautifully! I found that in 2011 it opened as a restaurant and a venue for special events. It was not open on the day I was there; would have loved to have seen the interior!
..........................
The following history is from From City of Roma www.cityofroma.net/about.html
In November 1993, the 9-square block area around Roma Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark District, the highest designation for historic properties in the U.S. Tracing its roots to the Spanish Colonial Colonists in the 1760's, Roma contains physical reminders of over two centuries of Texas/Mexico borderlands heritage. Roma's early history is rooted in the Spanish colonial period. In 1746, Jose de Escanden received permission from the Spanish Crown to colonize Nuevo Santander, which extended from the Sierra Madre Oriental to the Gulf of Mexico and from the rainforest of Tamaulipas northward beyond the Rio Grande. By 1753,Escanden had founded the towns of Camargo, Reynosa, Revilla and Mier south of the Rio Grande and Dolores on the north bank. Followed by Laredo in 1755. The Roma National Historic Landmark District contains over 30 structures built before 1900. Each is a monument to the courageous, pioneering spirit of Spanish Colonial and Mexican settlers and the decades of subsequent prosperity as an important commercial center for this area of the Texas/Mexico borderlands.

Uploaded

February 10th, 2017