The city is located along the Rio Grande, across from Ciudad Miguel Alemán in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The bluff adjacent to the town square overlooks the river, and parts of the Ciudad Miguel Aleman crossing are readily visible.

[4] The site offered a convenient crossing on the Rio Grande, which became known as El Paso de la Mula (Pass of the Mule).

A Texan force sought to take Roma in the Mier Expedition of 1842, which resulted in the death, capture, or execution of many volunteers.

After the Mexican–American War established U.S. control over the northern bank of the Rio Grande in 1846, Texas governed Roma.

During the American Civil War, the region became wealthy on the cotton trade, which was transshipped via Mexico to Europe.

While steamboats were able to access Roma through the mid-19th century, lowering water levels as a result of development upstream ended river shipment by the 1880s.

[12] The City of Roma is located along the Rio Grande, which is the frontier between the United States and Mexico.

[23] A small area located near the eastern city limit line lies within the boundaries of Ynes B.

Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Los Angeles Times stated that its Fourth of July celebration is "massive", and uses it to showcase its patriotic pro-American ethos.

[30] The town is the scene identified as the burial site of artifacts from the Library at Alexandria in Clive Cussler's novel Treasure.

The film and the city are recurring motifs in Larry McMurtry's 1972 novel All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, and the book's conclusion takes place in and around Roma.