[5] Mentone was, until recent years, the least-populated unincorporated county seat in the United States, but lost that distinction with the 2010 census to Gann Valley, South Dakota, which had a population of 14.

A volunteer fire department serves the town, but no hospitals or cemeteries are there, and no doctors or lawyers.

[8] 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.

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,[9] 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.

[10][11] According to a website for Pendarvis' movement, their objectives were to "Remove oppressive regulations... and stop enforcement of laws prohibiting victimless acts among consenting adults" Additionally, the group sought "to ensure that the sheriff's office or the town police are never allowed to waste valuable town resources... to oppress our residents by the investigation or enforcement of violations of laws that punish truancy, drug trafficking, prostitution, obscenity, organ trafficking, and other victimless 'crimes'.

Mentone experiences an arid desert climate with hot summers and cool winters.

[28] Loving County's school system was closed and consolidated into Wink's ISD in 1972 because the enrollment had fallen to two students.