Mentone, IN

Mentone is a Kosciusko County town in northern Indiana with an agricultural specialty you can see before you read the sign: a large concrete egg near the center. Commercial egg production earned the town the nickname "Egg Basket of the Midwest," and the annual Egg Festival in early June turns that history into a recurring civic event. The 2020 census counted 943 residents. Mentone was platted in 1882 and likely named for Menton, France; today it sits among farm roads, small-town streets, and the regional routes linking Kosciusko County.

ATTRSkvader / CC BY-SA 4.0

Aircraft history gives Mentone another distinctive institution. Lawrence D. Bell was born here and later led Bell Aircraft, and the Lawrence D. Bell Aircraft Museum traces his career and the company's work on jet aircraft, helicopters, and high-altitude planes. The Popular Rotorcraft Association is based at the PRA Mentone Airport, which hosts an annual fly-in. Bell Memorial Public Library, Mentone Elementary, town hall, and the Egg Festival grounds fill out the everyday civic map. Mentone's identity is unusually easy to recognize: eggs, aircraft, and a small town center tied to the farms around it.