[4] Garvin began as a trading post in the Choctaw Nation, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of the present community bearing the same name.

[4] At the time of its founding, Garvin was located in Bok Tuklo County, a part of the Apukshunnubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.

In 1902, the Choctaw Land Commission selected a new site along the railroad that was being constructed across what would become McCurtain County, Oklahoma.

The 126 acres (0.51 km2) site, which would reclaim the name Garvin, was halfway between Valliant and Purnell (later renamed Idabel).

Garvin had a population of 800 in 1906, 15 stores had opened by then and several professional people (e.g., doctors and lawyers) had established practices.

[4] Statehood had caused the dissolution of the Choctaw Nation as a political entity, replaced by the creation of several counties of the new state of Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, its local rival, Idabel had surged ahead to a 1910 population of 1,493 and continued growth, with a total of 3,067 residents in 1920.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, this town has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2), all land.