Village of Loving—is located 12 miles southeast of Carlsbad. The village was first settled by a group of 54 Swiss settlers who arrived in November 1891. They named their settlement Vaud (pronounced Voe) for their canton in Switzerland. It became a U.S. Post Office on May 29, 1893.  The Swiss invested substantial amount of money on farm acreage within a four mile radius of Vaud. They lost all their crops in 1893 when the dams of the Pecos Irrigation Company dams washed out in a devastating flood. With the flood and the Panic of 1893-94 many of the Swiss relocated elsewhere.

In 1984, because of the confusion between the name of Vaud and Vaughn, postal authorities convinced residents to change the village’s name, it was changed to Florence. It is believed that the name Florence was in recognition of the 65 settlers who migrated from Italy after the Swiss settlers had left. It is also believed that it was named Florence in honor of Oliver Loving’s daughter.

On June 1, 1908, once again the village’s name changed to Loving, honoring Oliver Loving, a Texas cowman and trail driver.

January 18, 1945 an election was held and the Village of Loving became incorporated.

Today the population of the Village of Loving is approximately 1,326 and the village has a total area of 1.1 square miles of land.

As of 2000, Loving’s population was 1,326.

 

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