Waterhole Cemetery, Garvin, OK (11)
**Waterhole Cemetery** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 79002001, date listed 12/11/1979
S of Garvin
Garvin, OK (McCurtain County)
Waterhole Cemetery is located in a wooded area three and a quarter miles south of the town of Garvin and Highway 70. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the McCurtain Historical Society. The Society has erected a chain link fence around the graveyard and has repaired the headstones which were broken. It also keeps the grounds cleared and is in the process of preparing a new headstone for the grave of Isaac Garvin to replace the broken and lost marker. There are approximately 80 marked graves in the cemetery as well as others which are unmarked.
Waterhole Cemetery is significant because its use dates from the 1830s immediately after the Choctaw removal from Mississippi to Indian Territory, and because it is the burial place of Choctaw Chief Isaac Garvin and is the only site remaining that is associated with him. Garvin was born on April 27, 1832, in Mississippi and emigrated to Indian Territory, locating in Red River County. He died on February 20, 1890. He was a well-educated Choctaw lawyer and intellectual who served as Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1878 to 1880.
The cemetery was initially an Indian burying ground but later became one of the first community-type cemeteries in the county. It was used as a burial place for people from all cultural groups, and is still available for use by relatives of those buried there. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Waterhole Cemetery, Garvin, OK (11)
**Waterhole Cemetery** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 79002001, date listed 12/11/1979
S of Garvin
Garvin, OK (McCurtain County)
Waterhole Cemetery is located in a wooded area three and a quarter miles south of the town of Garvin and Highway 70. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the McCurtain Historical Society. The Society has erected a chain link fence around the graveyard and has repaired the headstones which were broken. It also keeps the grounds cleared and is in the process of preparing a new headstone for the grave of Isaac Garvin to replace the broken and lost marker. There are approximately 80 marked graves in the cemetery as well as others which are unmarked.
Waterhole Cemetery is significant because its use dates from the 1830s immediately after the Choctaw removal from Mississippi to Indian Territory, and because it is the burial place of Choctaw Chief Isaac Garvin and is the only site remaining that is associated with him. Garvin was born on April 27, 1832, in Mississippi and emigrated to Indian Territory, locating in Red River County. He died on February 20, 1890. He was a well-educated Choctaw lawyer and intellectual who served as Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation from 1878 to 1880.
The cemetery was initially an Indian burying ground but later became one of the first community-type cemeteries in the county. It was used as a burial place for people from all cultural groups, and is still available for use by relatives of those buried there. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...