Fire breaks out at Ramey House, former home of Texas Rose Festival founder, in Tyler

TYLER, Texas — The Tyler Police Dept. is assisting the Tyler Fire Dept. on a reported structure fire near downtown Tyler.

Tyler police say the fire broke out at the intersection of E. Houston St. and S. Broadway Ave., which is the location of the historic Ramey House. Traffic is being diverted around the area.

• Intersection of Charnwood and College is closed
• Broadway and Houston – all westbound traffic from Broadway is closed
• Broadway and Charnwood – all westbound traffic from Broadway closed
• All eastbound traffic on Houston from College to Broadway is closed 

Officials tell CBS19, Stonewater Roofing’s corporate office is now at that location and the owners were not in the building. Crews believe the fire started in the attic, but the investigation is ongoing.

The Texas Historical Commission describes the Ramey House as:

“An important example of turn-of-the-century domestic architecture, the home of Thomas Brown and Mary Josephine (Spencer) Ramey was crafted of virgin cypress and southern heart pine in 1903. The architectural style of the house is typical of the revival interest in colonial American history and the late 19th century classical movement. Thomas Boyd Ramey (1892-1967), a prominent local attorney and founder of Tyler’s Rose Festival, lived in the home with his family until his death.”

A historical marker was placed at the location in 1997.

CBS19 has a crew en route and will update this article as more information becomes available.