Named after Menton, France, by a French surveyor, present-day Mentone is actually the second such named community in Loving County; an earlier Mentone was founded south of the current town in 1893, but was abandoned in 1905. A second town on that site was called Juanita and then Porterville, but was deserted anew when Mentone was re-established in 1931, with most residents moving to the new town. The town on the current site was named Ramsey before being renamed. During its heyday, Mentone boasted five cafes, five gas stations, two hotels, two drugstores, two recreation halls, two barbershops, a dance hall, a machine shop, and a dry cleaner. It also had its own newspaper, the "Mentone Monitor", which published from 1932 to 1935. After 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.)