82R18243 BPG-D
By: Gallego H.R. No. 1120
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Citizens of Loving County are assembling at the
State Capitol on March 31, 2011, to celebrate the importance of
their home to the history of the Lone Star State; and
WHEREAS, The geographically smallest county in the Permian
Basin, Loving County lies to the east of the Pecos River in the
Chihuahuan Desert along the Texas-New Mexico border; its 671 square
miles of plains and rolling hills were carved out of Tom Green
County in 1887 and named in honor of Oliver Loving, an early Texas
cattleman; organized in 1893, the county was deorganized by the
state legislature four years later and attached to Reeves County;
and
WHEREAS, In 1931, Loving County became the only Texas county
to be organized twice; its fortunes had risen with the discovery of
oil in the 1920s and the founding of the town of Ramsey; new
residents came to the community from the nearby settlement of
Porterville and beyond; as the county seat, Ramsey was soon given
the name of Mentone, which originally designated the old, abandoned
county seat 12 miles to the north; the historic Loving County
Courthouse was built in Mentone in 1936; and
WHEREAS, Cattle ranching has remained an important part of
the county's economy since the 1800s, but oil and gas production are
the primary industry; Mentone, the only town, serves as a supply
center for neighboring oil fields; its population of about a dozen
is roughly the same as when the county was first founded, and Loving
County, with 82 people, ranks as the least populated in the nation;
the wide-open spaces of Western songs are no mere memory here, and
the abundant wildlife includes quail, deer, javelinas, bobcats,
coyotes, and armadillos; and
WHEREAS, Loving County retains the rugged beauty and ranching
traditions of our state's pioneer days, and its residents can
indeed take pride in the uniqueness of their county and its
heritage; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby recognize March 31, 2011, as Loving County Day
at the State Capitol and extend to the visiting delegation sincere
best wishes for a meaningful and memorable stay in Austin.