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MENTONE, TEXAS
Suggested Slogan:
"If "Less is More" then
Even Less is Even More."
Loving County
Seat, West Texas
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
31° 42' 23" N, 103° 35' 54" W
(31.706389, -103.598333)
State Hwy 302 (off 285)
27 miles NE of Pecos
28 miles W of Kermit
75 miles W of Odessa
2 miles NE of ghost town Porterville
ZIP code 79754
Area code 432
Population: 22 (2020) 19 (2010)
County population: 82 (2010)
Mentone, Texas Area Hotels
Pecos
Hotels |
The bullet-ridden
marker is just a preview of things to come
TE photo |
Texas
302 East
"Entering Loving County"
Photo by James
Feagin, 2002 |
The
Town that makes Archer
City look like Mexico City
Mentone has become famous for its lack of people. Besides no newspaper,
no grocery, no doctor and no school children (they do have a school,
but its been closed since the 70s), they also have to haul in drinking
water. They even rely on nearby Kermit
or Pecos
for the use of their cemeteries. People have been buried in Loving
County, but their graves are only of interest to archeologists.
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The lone café in Mentone
TE photo |
Collision
in Downtown Mentone!
or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Roadrunner
There is a Loving
County Courthouse and a Loving County/Mentone post office. There
may or may not be a café. It's hard to tell if it's open.
Our visit (2000) occurred on a Sunday morning, which traditionally
is a slow day for Mentone. We were following a roadrunner down the
main street (observing all traffic laws), hoping he/she would pause
so we could photograph him/ her. There was a snake in his/her mouth,
but this is not unusual. Especially in Mentone. The roadrunner was
avoiding us and was still trying to keep his/her grip on the snake
when it (the roadrunner) collided with a rabbit. Evidently the rabbit
was so shocked at seeing humans that he/she froze and the preoccupied
roadrunner almost impaled him/her with his/her beak. The rabbit quickly
came to his/her senses and resumed normal rabbit activity in Sunday
morning Mentone. |
| Rick
Vanderpool reported that when he visited Mentone (one always remember
one's visit to Mentone) he spotted a coyote three blocks from the
courthouse (Mentone City Limits) at 2:37 in the afternoon. The coyote
was probably leaving town after a messy divorce. Where's Marlin Perkins
when we really need him? |
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Reach
out and touch someone - anyone!
TE photo |
The
Mentone Dialtone or
When the phone doesn't ring, it's probably a wrong number.
We had heard a rumor that the last quarter removed from the Mentone
phone was bronze. There had been an AP story a few years ago about
a decision to remove this Loving
County lifeline. It bothered us to the point that we swore if
we were ever one hundred miles from Mentone; we would check it out.
We were, we did, and we are glad it's there. |
The
town so nice they incorporated twice
Mentone also has the distinction of being the only county in Texas
that was incorporated twice. It seems that they got behind in their
taxes back a long time ago and Winkler
County held the deeds to the 6 or 8 ranches until things were
put straight.
Mentone turns down government money they would get from revenue sharing
(but they're nice about it). |
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The current Mentone Post Office
TE photo, 2000 |
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The
former Mentone Post Office
TE photo, 2000 |
Naming of Menton
The story is that
Mentone was named after Menton, France. Since Menton is on
the French Riviera, it's doubtful that a homesick Frenchman was reminded
of his hometown, but then again, that's the story. Don't look for
a Sister City relationship anytime soon.
Ray Miller's excellent Eyes of Texas Travel Guide in 1981 had a photo
of a calendar that hung in the Mentone Service Station. It showed
a view of Menton, France. We'd love to hear the story of how the calendar
came to be there. |
Mentone Revisited
Mentone Church
&
Former Schoolhouse
The oldest building
in Loving County
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965 |
Wedding in Loving
County
TE photo, September 2009 |
Church piano
TE photo, September 2009 |
Church vintage
photos in display
TE photo, September 2009 |
Historic church
& former schoolhouse in Mentone
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, November 2009 |
Church historical
marker
3 blocks N. of Courthouse, Mentone
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, November 2009 |
Historical
marker:
MENTONE COMMUNITY
CHURCH
Built 1910 in Porterville,
a town abandoned after Pecos River flood of 1930. Moved here for school
and social center. Also used by various church groups and for non-denominational
worship.
Oldest building in Loving County.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965 |
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Historical marker
Hwy 302 (Ball Street) at Pecos Street:
Smallest County Seat in Texas
MENTONE
Only town in Loving
County - last organized, most sparsely populated (both in total
and per square mile) county in Texas.
Established 1931 and named for an earlier town (10 miles north) which
legend says was named by a French surveyor-prospector after his home
on the Riviera.
With population of 42, Mentone has no water system. (Water is hauled
in.) Nor does it have a bank, doctor, hospital, newspaper, lawyer,
civic club or cemetery. There are only two recorded graves in county.
Some Indian skeletons, artifacts are found. Oil, farming, cattle
country.
(1967) |
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Photo courtesy Richard Berger, April 2004 |
MENTONE,
TEXAS
By David Knape
Mentone's a town
that's almost gone,
just 19 people
call it home,
The town sits out there
all alone,
it's sad but Mentone's
on its own.
© d.knape
7-27-2018 |
Mentone, Texas
Forum
Mentone
in the late 1940s
My dad worked for the Santa Fe Railroad and we lived in the railroad
houses at nearby Arno,
just across the river, during 1947-1951. I did my first four grades
at Mentone. Those were the days of no electricity and outdoor facilities,
but I don't recall those as hardships. I enjoy memories of those
early days, and as I share those with my grandchildren they are
astonished that everyone did not have a cell phone in Loving
County in the late 1940s. - Winston Harold Cox, Jr. July 26,
2018
Subject:
"Innnocents" Rare in 1950's Mentone
My parents and I moved to Mentone around 1945 and left in 1959.
I started school in Mentone in 1947 at the age of five. At that
time, the population of Mentone was around 150. My father was a
pumper for Gulf Oil and we lived about a mile from town.
One of my girlfriend's daddy was the sheriff and we spent a lot
of time playing in the courthouse.
On the second floor of the courthouse was a large room where County
Commissioners met each month and where the County Judge listened
to legal cases. As kids, we decided and acted out our roles for
the day. The "Judge" sat in the big chair behind the bench and would
swear in the "accused and witnesses" (with their hand on the bible).
The "lawyer" would ask questions. After deciding the accused's guilt
(very seldom was anyone found innocent), the judge banged the gavel
and sentenced the guilty child to time in jail. There was one small
cell with 2 bunk beds. We'd all go in there and sit and the jailer
(the sheriff's wife or some other mother) would bring in sandwiches
and drinks and we'd have a picnic. Afterwards, we could all slide
down the wood bannister to the first floor and go home.
I started 5th grade in Pecos,
TX and graduated from there in 1959 and my family moved from Mentone
to Odessa.
I have such fond memories of my life in Mentone and Pecos. I try
to drive back out to Mentone anytime I'm in the area. My husband
called it my "childhood fix. Of course, the house we lived in has
been gone for many years but I can still find the old dirt road
and the remnants and the memories. Thank you for [your magazine]
and little piece of history from my past. - Patsy Powell, January
18, 2007
My Father
worked for Pasotex Pipeline very near Mentone, Texas. I went to
the school in Mentone. The year I started to school there were about
4-5 seniors that graduated from there. I went to the first, second
and part of the third grade there. Then, we had to go to Pecos,
Texas for the rest of my school. I graduated from Pecos, Texas
in 1959. So, I know the school closed long before the 1970's. From
Mentone, Texas, we moved down the road to Orla,
Texas. We lived at the Standard Oil Pump Station called, Orla
Station. Orla had a grocery with a post office in it and a cafe
next door. There was a "motel" but people lived there. There was
also a church. My Father helped get a school bus started from Pecos
for all the Oil company children and ranchers children. When we
first started there were my sister and myself and two other girls
that were sisters. Their Father also worked for an oil company.
When I graduated, there was the biggest bus that they made. I don't
remember how many children were on the bus but it was full. - Rita
Ann (Lee) Wagner, August 28, 2004
After having
spent the weekend in southeast New Mexico with my best friend and
her brother (both natives of Monterrey, NL, MX), I decided we should
briefly visit Mentone on the return trip.
We got photos of the courthouse, the old school that closed thirty
years ago, the church, and the convenience store. We ended up at
the Boot Track Cafe, where the cook whipped up what had to be the
best tasting hamburgers we've had all year. They were also eager
to discuss their town with us.
By the way, today is the cook's birthday, and the friends who came
to visit her even shared some cake with us. Regards - Edward A.
Hamm, Dallas, Texas USA, 18/Nov/2002
... I love
the general style of the entries. The humor is great. I especially
liked the nicknames
for Mentone. Keep up the great work. This is the most exciting
thing I've seen for Texas devotees since the Texas Almanac. - J.
Barnes, Humble, December 28, 2001
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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