Ramos Family
Peter Ramos and his wife, Carmela Ortiz Ramos, purchased an empty lot in Rio Linda in 1955. On that lot, Pete built a home for his wife and son, Peter Ramos Jr. When he finished, he painted the house yellow. The home stood on 1413 12th Street.
The Ramos family home would become known in the growing neighborhood of Rio Linda as “the grand yellow house” for its large size and vibrant color. A willow tree planted in the front yard by Carmela sometime in the 1950s further differentiated the Ramos house from its neighbors. In 1963, when the New York Times sent a reporter to El Paso to cover the Chamizal Treaty, this reporter was also drawn to the Ramos house, describing it as “larger and handsomely maintained.”
Peter and Carmela purchased their lot in Rio Linda from R.F. Miller Company Inc, a corporation in the County of El Paso, for $810. Ten years later, the U.S. federal government purchased the property from the Ramos family for $13,000.
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1955: Peter & Carmela Purchase Property in Rio Linda
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1965: Peter & Carmela sell their home to the United States of America
Arizona Daily Star July 19, 1963
El Paso Herald-Post, May 20, 1948
In 1963, the New York Times sent reporter Jack Langguth to cover the Chamizal Treaty and speak with residents who were to be displaced from their homes. In that article, headlined, “People Of Chamizal Unhappy To Be South Of The Border, ” Langguth described “the quiet streets of El Chamizal” and reported that residents were “distressed to find themselves suddenly south of the border.”
Langguth also spoke to Peter Ramos about his thoughts on the settlement. “Ramos, who built the house himself eight years ago,” reported Langguth, “worries that he will not be given a suitable settlement when the land reverts to Mexico.”
A real estate appraiser hired to evaluate and appraise Chamizal properties appraised the Ramos property at $13,000. He described the home as:
“Grass in front yard and rear yard, planter in rear yard against CB wall, inside in very good condition, outside in very good condition, paint is new. Wall to wall carpeting. Nice house.”
Source: William E. Woods Papers, Chamizal National Memorial Archives
More than 50 years later
Peter Ramos Jr. reflected on his family’s displacement from Rio Linda.
As he did so, he recalled stumbling across his mother’s weeping willow tree.