reaching a high population mark around 600 residents in the 1930s, the population has declined ever since, and in 2000, it had only 15 people, "more or less", according to National Geographic (the total population of Loving County itself (as of 2010) was 82.) Today, according to National Geographic, Mentone contains a courthouse, two stop signs, a gas station, a post office, a school building (Mentone schools were closed in the 1970s and merged with nearby Wink schools, because enrollment had fallen to just two pupils), and little else. A volunteer fire department serves the town, but no hospitals or cemeteries are there, and no doctors or lawyers. Until 1988, Mentone had no potable water of its own; local wells yielded water with a high mineral content that clogged pipes and killed grass. Drinking water was trucked in from Pecos, away, until improvements started in 2010 that guaranteed the potability of Mentone's water. Mentone's tiny church (the oldest building in Loving County) is visited every Saturday by a minister from a nearby town who holds interdenominational services there. Mentone was the home of the first elected female sheriff in Texas, Edna Reed Clayton DeWees, who was appointed to the job in January 1945, then won an election to continue in the office through 1947. She never carried a firearm, and reported only two arrests during her entire term. This is not unusual in Loving County; since the inception of the county, fewer than 200 criminal cases have been filed in District Court. Later, DeWees returned as county and district clerk, a job she held from 1965 to 1986. In Loving County, the posts of county clerk, probate clerk, and district clerk are managed by the same official. DeWees died January 22, 2009, having survived her husbands George Clayton and Lawrence DeWees. Free Town Project In February 2006, Mentone became the focus of a New York Times article detailing an alleged attempt by Lawrence Pendarvis, a man convicted of 129 counts of possession of child pornography, Bobby Emory, and Don Duncan to "take over" the town and Loving County. According to the article, Pendarvis and his associates, part of the "Free Town Project", planned to buy parcels of land in the county, then move in enough of their supporters to outvote earlier residents and take control of local government. According to a website for Pendarvis' movement, their objectives were to "Remove