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ROMA
- LOS SAENZ, TEXASStarr
County, South Texas
Highway 83
12 miles W of Rio
Grande City
52 miles W of McAllen
91 miles SE of Laredo
On the Rio
Grande
Across from Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Population: 9,617 (2000) |
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A Roma streetscape
Photo by John Troesser |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Roma and Los Saenz have incorporated joinly and
so they are listed here together. Corrales de Saenz was founded in the 1760s by
a ranching family named Saenz who followed José de Escandón from the Spanish colonial
city of Mier. According to the Handbook of Texas, "it is possible that
what came to be known as Roma-Los Saenz and Ciudad Miguel Alemán
were originally part of the same city, San Pedro de Roma, Tamaulipas."
1848 was the year Roma-Los Saenz became part of the U. S. - although that
fact is thought by some to be a moot point. The only obvious change was an opening
of the first post office in Starr County. The flavor of the city is definately
19th Century Mexico and is certainly one of the gem cities on "Los Caminos del
Rio." |
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The former Roma Post Office
appeared in Viva Zapata
Photo by John Troesser |
The Oblates
of Mary Immaculate founded a mission in the mid-1850s and it was they who suggested
the name Roma. The town was also the westernmost port for the steamships that
ran up and down the Rio Grande from 1850 to 1900.
Roma was designated
a national historic district in the 1970s and the historical museum itself
is in an 1840 building. The main plaza, was used a backdrop for the 1953 movie
Viva
Zapata. Many of the downtown buildings built in the 1880s (including the old
1880s post office) were designed by noted German brickmaker and architect Heinrich
Portscheller. |
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The historic "Pink House" in Roma
Photo by John Troesser |
| The population
in 1904 was a mere 521. During the border unrest 1910-17, refugees from Mexico
occupied the historic "Pink House." The town's isolation ended in the mid 1920s
when new roads were built and the railroad arrived. |
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The International Bridge, one of the few remaining suspension
bridges in Texas.
Photo by John Troesser |
Roma's green bridge - one of the few remaining suspension bridges in Texas became
Texas' international bridge when it was built in 1927. A recent restoration has
painted and reenforced it, although it has yet to be reopened to pedestrian traffic.
In 1931 Roma's population was 1,000 - and the businesses were all clustered
in the few blocks around the bridge. With the construction of Falcon Dam in 1953,
the threat of periodic flooding was removed. |
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Roma
water tower painted with "Home of the Gladiators"
Photo by John Troesser
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Since 1979 the town's infrastructure has been improved with a new water plant,
water tower and new fire and police stations. The town is surrounded on three
sides by 100,000 acres of irrigated river bottom. |
| | Cactus
in a Ruin in Roma
Photo by John Troesser |
Roma
Attractions
Falcon
State Park - 800-792-1112
14 miles northwest via US 83, FM 2098, and Park
Road 45. Admissions.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/falcon/
The
Roma National Historic Landmark District - 1848 to 1928 historic structures
under restoration can be viewed from the city plaza.Roma
Historical Museum
See also Lost
Photos of Starr County |
Roma
Texas ForumAnyone
wishing to share stories, memories or photos of Roma-Los Saenz, Texas, please
contact us.
© John Troesser
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