DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, this little church has a story that starts somewhere else entirely — in a town called Porterville. That building went up in 1910, standing proud in Porterville, going about its business as a gathering place, a center of community life.
And for a good long while, that was just fine. But then came 1930, and with it, the Pecos River flood. Porterville didn't survive it.
The town was abandoned — just gone, swallowed by circumstance and rising water. Most towns, when they die, they take their buildings with them. But not this one.
This building had somewhere to be. It was moved — picked up and carried to Mentone — to serve as a school and social center. Think about that for a second.
A whole structure, relocated, given a second life, a new purpose. And it didn't stop there. Various church groups found their way through its doors.
Non-denominational worship echoed off those same walls that had been raised in an entirely different town, in an entirely different time. Today, that building is the oldest in Loving County. Loving County — one of the least populated places in all of Texas — and its oldest building is a church that survived a flood, outlived its hometown, and kept right on being useful.
If that ain't a Texas story, I don't know what is.
What the marker says
Built 1910 in Porterville, a town abandoned after Pecos River flood of 1930. Moved here for school and social center. Also used by various church groups and for non-denominational worship. Oldest building in Loving County. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964.