Mentone, Texas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mentone, Texas
Census-designated place
Loving County Courthouse, the only two-story building in Mentone, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Mentone, Texas Location in Texas Show map of Texas Mentone, Texas Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Loving
Founded	1931
Area
• Total	0.17 sq mi (0.44 km2)
• Land	0.17 sq mi (0.44 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	2,684 ft (818 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	22
• Density	100/sq mi (50/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	79754
Area code(s)	432
FIPS code	48-47676
GNIS feature ID	1362622

Mentone (/ˌmɛnˈtoʊn/) is an unincorporated town in and the county seat of Loving County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population was 22, up from a population of 19 in 2010, almost one-quarter of the county's 82 people at the time.

Mentone was, until recent years, the least-populated unincorporated county seat in the United States, but lost that distinction with the 2010 census to Gann Valley, South Dakota, which had a population of 14. Mentone was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1967 as the "Smallest County Seat in Texas".

History

Named after Menton, France by a French surveyor, present-day Mentone is actually the second such named community in Loving County; an earlier Mentone was founded south of the current town in 1893, but was abandoned in 1905. A second town on that site was called Juanita and then Porterville, but was deserted anew when Mentone was reestablished in 1931, with most residents moving to the new town. The town on the current site was named Ramsey before being renamed. During its heyday, Mentone boasted five cafes, five gas stations, two hotels, two drugstores, two recreation halls, two barbershops, a dance hall, a machine shop and a dry cleaner. It also had its own newspaper, the Mentone Monitor, which published from 1932 to 1935. After reaching a high population mark of approximately 600 residents in the 1930s, the population has declined ever since, and in 2000 there were only 15 people, "more or less", according to National Geographic magazine (the total population of Loving County itself (as of 2010) is 82.)

Today, according to National Geographic, Mentone contains a courthouse, two stop signs, gas station, post office, school building (Mentone schools were closed in the 1970s and merged with nearby Wink schools, because enrollment had fallen to just two pupils), and little else. A volunteer fire department serves the town, but there are no hospitals or cemeteries, and no doctors or lawyers. Until 1988, Mentone had no potable water of its own; local wells yielded water with a high mineral content that clogged pipes and killed grass. Drinking water was trucked in from Pecos, 23 miles (37 km) away, until recent improvements guaranteed the potability of Mentone's water.

Mentone's tiny church (the oldest building in Loving County) is visited every Saturday by a minister from a nearby town who holds interdenominational services there.

Mentone was the home of the first elected female sheriff in Texas, Edna Reed Clayton DeWees. DeWees was appointed to the job in January 1945, then won an election to continue in the office through 1947. She never carried a firearm, and reported only two arrests during her entire term. This is not unusual in Loving County; since the inception of the county, there have been fewer than 200 criminal cases filed in District Court. Later DeWees would return as county and district clerk, a job she held from 1965 to 1986. In Loving County, the posts of county clerk, probate clerk, and of district clerk are managed by the same official. DeWees died January 22, 2009, having survived her husbands George Clayton and Lawrence DeWees.

Free Town Project

In February 2006, Mentone became the focus of a New York Times article detailing an alleged attempt by Lawrence Pendarvis, Bobby Emory and Don Duncan to "take over" the town and Loving County. According to the article, Pendarvis and his associates, part of the "Free Town Project", planned to buy parcels of land in the county, then move in enough of their supporters to outvote earlier residents and take control of local government.

Although Pendarvis, Emory and Duncan claimed to have legally bought 126 acres (51 ha) in Loving County in 2005, and registered to vote accordingly, the county sheriff, Billy Burt Hopper, determined that this land had been sold to a different buyer. Misdemeanor charges were filed against the three men, who had left the state by this time. Pendarvis claimed to have a cancelled check to prove his purchase of the land in question, but no deed was ever produced, and the original landowners denied having sold land to Pendarvis or his associates. The three were subsequently featured on a "wanted" poster issued by Sheriff Hopper and the local Texas Rangers (displayed at Hopper's office), and threatened with arrest should they return to Loving County.

As of 2017, Pendarvis' website is no longer operational.

Geography

Mentone is located at an elevation of 2,684 feet (818 m). It is situated on State Highway 302, seventy-five miles west of Odessa.

Demographics

2020 census

Since 2020, Mentone has been included in the larger Mentone, Texas, CDP, a census-designated place delineated by the United States Census Bureau for its purposes in compiling, storing and analyzing census data. Because of this, demographics taken from this census apply to the entire CDP and not just the town proper.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 22 people, 7 households, and 3 families residing in the CDP.

Education

Mentone is served by the Wink-Loving Independent School District. Loving County's school system was closed and consolidated into Wink's ISD in 1972 because the enrollment had fallen to two students. All of Loving County is zoned to Odessa College.

See also

In Spanish: Mentone para niños