Mentz is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in northeastern
Colorado County, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. According to the
Handbook of Texas
The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...
, the community had a population of 100 in 2000.
History
The majority of the community's settlers were
German Catholics from
Büdesheim,
Hesse
Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
, who arrived around 1846. The
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz
The Diocese of Mainz, (, ) historically known in English as Mentz as well as by its French name Mayence, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metropol ...
produced a large number of the initial settlers. The settlement was first known as Neu
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
by the
Mainz Society, before changing to Mentz. In 1858, a tiny church was constructed by the settlers and given the name St. Roch after a chapel located near Büdesheim and
Bingen. The post office serving the area was first founded in 1853 under the name San Bernard, changed to New Mainz in 1860, and closed in 1866. It was then reopened as Mentz in 1889, closed in 1896, reopened the following year, and moved to
Alleyton in 1913. Mentz had the church building, a
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
, a cemetery, a church hall, and some
picnic
A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...
buildings in 1986. There was also a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
park on the premises. Mentz had 167 registered voters in its precinct. The population was 100 in 2000.
On September 4, 2011, a fire blazed through Mentz. It consumed , 11 homes, 40 outbuildings, and about 38 vehicles. It was contained a few days later.
Geography
Mentz is located at the intersection of Mentz and Frelsburg roads, approximately northeast of
Columbus in Colorado County.
Education
The
Sisters of Divine Providence operated a Catholic School in the community from 1872 through 1916.
Today, the community is served by the
Columbus Independent School District.
Gallery
File:Mentz TX St Roch Church.jpg, St. Roch Catholic Church is near the intersection of Frelsburg and Mentz Roads.
File:Mentz TX Marker.jpg, State historical marker describes the history of the Bernardo and Mentz communities.
File:Mentz TX Sign.jpg, Mentz sign is at FM 949 and Frelsburg Road.
References
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Unincorporated communities in Texas
Unincorporated communities in Colorado County, Texas