Loving County
Mentone, Loving County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formed from Tom Green County, created February 26, 1887. Organized July 8, 1893, named in honor of Oliver Loving, 1812-1867, farmer, rancher and an early trail driver. Mentone, the county seat.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Loving County was carved from Tom Green County in 1887 and organized in 1893, in the last decades when the arid Trans-Pecos of West Texas was being fenced, ranched, and settled. It honors Oliver Loving (1812–1867), the pioneering cattleman whose long drives helped open northern markets to Texas herds after the Civil War. Mentone, the county seat, anchors what remains one of the most sparsely populated counties in the United States.
Why it matters
Naming the county for a trail-driving pioneer ties this remote corner of Texas to the great cattle-drive era that shaped the American West and its economy.
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Related people
- · Oliver Loving
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Route of Old Butterfield Stagecoach Road
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