Loving County, TX: 82 folks make it US' least populous.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/he ... growth.ece

The above link is a Dallas Morning News article, with 21 large photos, of Loving County, Texas.
At 82 residents, it is the least populous county in the United States.

The story notes that the 11 school children in the county must be bused 32 miles to Wink in Winkler County,
to attend school. Wink was home to Roy Orbison, the singer ("Pretty woman, walking down the street,
Pretty woman, the kind I'd like to meet").

Charlie Robison wrote a song called "The Lights of Loving County".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Robison Charlie is an awesome singer/songwriter, born in
Houston, but now from Bandera, TX.


The lyrics are below:

Well I loved a girl.
She lived out in Pecos and she was pretty as she could be.
Well I worked them oil rigs on out in Odessa.
Just to give her whatever she needs.
Well that girl run, with an oil company bum
Because the diamond was not on her hand.
He left her soon beneath the big Loving moon
To go out and X-ray the land.
Now I sit in my car at the new Rainbow Bar downtown.
The frost on the windshield shines toward the sky
Like a thousand tiny diamonds
In the lights of Loving County.

Now I walked in that bar and I drank myself crazy
Because I was thinking about her and the man.
Then in walked a woman she's looking richer than sin
And she had ten years worth of work on her hand.
Well I followed her home when she was alone
And I put my gun to her head.
And I don't recall what happened next,
But now that rich woman... Well, she's dead.
Now I drive down the highway ten miles from my sweet baby's arms.
The moon is so bright that it don't look like night.
And the diamond, how it sparkled
In the lights of Loving County.

She opened that door and I knelt on the floor.
And I put that ring in her hand.
She said "I do" and that she'd leave with me soon
To them ol' oil rigs out in South Alabama.
Well I told her to hide that ring there inside
And wait 'til the timing was good.
And I drove on home and I was alone
Because I thought that she understood. (But you know she didn't)
Because the next night an old friend
Just called me to wish us both well.
He said he'd seen her downtown sashayin' around
And her diamond... Oh, how it sparkled.
In the lights of Loving County.

Well that sheriff he found me out wandering all around El Paso
The very next day.
You see, I'd lost my mind on that broken white line
Before I even reached Balmorhea.
Well now she's in Fort Worth and she's just given birth
To the son of that oil company man.
And they buried that sheriff's poor old dead wife
With the ring that I stole on her hand.
You know sometimes they let me look up at that East Texas sky.
And the rain on the pines... Oh Lord, how it shines!
Like my diamond that sparkled
In the lights of Loving County.

I consider this an iconic Texas country song.
Of course the reason that "they let me look up at the East Texas sky"
is because the man was sent to Huntsville for the murder.

Another surprisingly low population county (maybe 200 folks) is Kennedy County,
which is between Kingsville and Harlingen. IIRC, a major portion of the county
may be the King Ranch (largest ranch in Texas and a Ford F-series upscale model name).
In most of the US, coastal counties have high populations, but not Kennedy County.

SIA

[WildBill]

SIA - Thanks for the post. It's a little sad for Loving County, but I am glad that Roy moved away from home so he could share his music with the rest of the world.

[RPBrown]

Bet all 82 own a gun of some sort, even the youngsters