Loving County Was Organized Twice — Oil Made It Stick

In 1893, a group of outside investors organized Loving County and created the Loving Canal and Irrigation Company. The county petition claimed 150 qualified voters, but census records at the time showed only three actual residents. The county government fell apart by 1897 when officials left.

The real county came together in 1931, after oil was discovered nearby in 1925. The county seat is Mentone, on State Highway 302. Mentone is the only town in the county. At times the county's population has been counted in the dozens. The oil economy and extreme remoteness have shaped everything here — from the tax base to the size of local government. The Handbook of Texas is the primary sourced reference for this history.