168 of 254 Loving County Courthouse, Mentone, Texas. County Population: 82 (the smallest county)
Loving County, Texas
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"From 1837 to 1874 the area of Loving County was part of the Bexar Land District. In 1874 the Texas legislature separated Tom Green County from the Bexar District. In 1887 Loving County was separated from Tom Green County, but it remained attached to Reeves County for judicial purposes. It was named for Oliver Loving, an early Texas cattleman who was mortally wounded by Indians on the Pecos in the area of the county as he rode in advance of his herd in 1866.
"Loving County is the only Texas county to be organized twice. The first organization appears to have been a scheme to defraud on the part of the organizers. Early in 1893 six men from Denver, Colorado, organized the Loving Canal and Irrigation Company of Mentone, Texas, with the stated purpose of migrating to isolated Loving County and constructing an irrigation canal from the Pecos to surrounding farmland. "County government was chaotic, and the state legislature deorganized Loving County on May 12, 1897, reattaching it to Reeves County. "Oil activity in the county increased the population to 195 by 1930. The larger population produced the town of Ramsey and led to the second organization of Loving County in 1931. Ramsey was renamed Mentone and became the county seat." Julia Cauble Smith, "LOVING COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Loving County and photographed the courthouse in Mentone on Saturday, July 28, 2012.
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The Pecos River forms the western boundary of Loving County
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This is the "river" at the State Highway 302 bridge
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Approaching the community of Mentone from the west, on Texas 302. The courthouse is within the grove of trees
Loving County Courthouse 1935
Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Evan J. Wood, Architect and Contractor. Photo, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT
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A 1936 Texas centennial marker
The courthouse faces southeast, on Texas Highway 302, Bell Street. This is the south corner of the building
The northeast side of the courthouse
The front facade of the courthouse. The building plaque is on the left
View from the courthouse steps
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The north corner of the courthouse
The northwest side of the courthouse. County officials have solved the problem of what to do with the back door in a bi-lateral symetrical building design
What's this? A new building in Mentone!
North of the courthouse is the new Loving County Hopper Annex, dedicated March 16, 2012
"The Loving County Hopper Annex came in $50,000 below budget for a total construction cost of $1.9 million and houses the offices of the sheriff, deputy sheriff, and justice of the peace, along with the vehicle registration, voter registration, appraisal and tax offices, said Hopper. The materials used to construct the adobe-style building – compressed earth blocks – along with other measures, such as the use of a ground-source heat pump versus a conventional heat pump, should lead to future savings." Texas County Progress magazine online
No more waiting in long lines to register their vehicles for the 82 citizens of Loving County!
The only Post Office in Loving County
The only church in Loving County
The only gas station in Loving County
Downtown Mentone
A new oil boom in Loving County
And, the only highway in Loving County is very busy
Loving County, courtesy of TXDOT. The Pecos River in Loving County before the Red Bluff Reservoir was constructed up river