LOVING, TEXAS. Loving, on State Highway 114 eighteen miles southeast of Olney and twelve miles northeast of Graham in northeastern Young County, was once part of the Lost Valley Loving Ranch. It was on the Goodnight-Loving Trail and was named for the Oliver Loving family. The town was reportedly moved about one mile north to gain rail access with the 1910 construction of the Gulf, Texas and Western Railroad through the area, though other sources say the town was originally two miles east of the present site. B. B. Cain, trustee for the Trinity Townsite Company, platted the new town on land purchased from M. H. and W. T. Steadham. Other early settlers in the area included A. J. Wheat, A. E. Oatman, D. H. Norris, L. C. Deering, W. H. Smith, and W. T. Long. The community's growth was steady, and by the 1930s Loving had a school, a bank, and several churches and businesses. Grain and poultry were produced locally. The community's population reached 350 in 1940 but declined to 240 by 1980. In 1986 the town had a post office and nine businesses. Its population was reported at 240 in 1990 and 300 in 2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carrie J. Crouch, Young County: History and Biography (Dallas: Dealey and Love, 1937; rev. ed., A History of Young County, Texas, Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1956).
