{"nrhp_refnum":"06000362","name":"Loving County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Bounded by Pecos St., Collins St., Dallas St., and TX 302","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mentone","county":"Loving County","state":"TX","lat":31.70845094400005,"lon":-103.59925747399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Moderne-style brown brick and tile county courthouse built in 1935 in Mentone, Loving County, Texas, designed and built by Evan J. Wood of Pecos. It sits in the middle of a block bounded by Pecos, Collins and Dallas Streets and State Highway 302.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is significant under Criterion A in the area of Government at the local level. It is the only two-story building in the least populated county in the United States and the lone symbol of county government. It is also the visual and social focal point of Mentone. It reflects the county's second organization in 1931 during the oil boom.","narrative":"Loving County Courthouse, completed in 1935, is a two-story Moderne building of brown brick and tile in Mentone, Texas. It is the only two-story building in the least populated county in the United States. Its design is nearly devoid of ornament, which the nomination attributes to modernist principles and a wish to keep Depression-era costs low. Subtle setbacks, corbelling and a change from brick on the ground floor to rough-textured tile above keep it from reading as a plain box. Architect and contractor Evan J. Wood of Pecos won the design-and-build contract after county voters approved $25,000 in bonds, and the county accepted the finished building in April 1936. The courthouse housed county offices, the district court and a small jail, and it replaced a temporary vault and house from 1931. Loving County was organized twice, in 1893 and again in 1931 during an oil boom. The courthouse remains the focal point of the community and retains good integrity despite 1970s window and interior changes.","period_of_significance":"1935-1956","architect_builder":"Wood, Evan J.","architectural_style":"Modern Movement: Moderne","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used as the county courthouse; windows were replaced and interiors altered in 1977-78, but the building retains a good degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.395186-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/9728/40972862/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/06000362.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000362/3406f22169-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000362/3406f22169-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Lothar the Terrible","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mentone_Courthouse.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Lothar the Terrible</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mentone_Courthouse.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972862","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6692602"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/loving-county/loving-county-courthouse-06000362/"}