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Loving
County Courthouse Today
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2005 |
Date
- 1935
Architect - Evan J. Wood
Style - Modern
Material - Brick |
Loving
County Courthouse as it appeared in 1939
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Loving
County Courthouse district courtroom
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, December 2005 |
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Loving County Courthouse.
Don't forget to pick up some famous Mentone
Brine.
TE
photo |
| Loving
County Courthouse detail
TE photo |
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).
©
John Troesser |
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Loving
County ForumSubject:
"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
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic,
endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local
history, stories, and vintage/historic photos of their courthouse/town/subject,
please contact
us.
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