Garwin is a city in Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 481 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
Garwin was platted in 1880. A post office called Garwin has been in operation since 1880.
In 1879, the Toledo and Northwestern Railroad was sold to the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. After the sale, the railroad line was extended northwestward from Toledo. Various new towns were established along the tracks, but Garwin, Iowa, was the first railroad station beyond Toledo.
Giving the town a name proved to be a difficult process. At first, it was called “Maple,” or as some claim “Myrcle,” but neither name was particularly favorable. The next choice was “Marvin,” in honor of Marvin Hewitt, an official of the Northwestern railroad, but it was soon discovered that another town had already taken the name.
Several landowners, including George Rider and John Galvizer, wanted to sell their lands to establish the new town. After much controversy, these two men won out, and a message was sent to Toledo that read: “‘G’ (for Glavizer) and ‘R’ (for Rider) win.” Its recipients misconstrued the message, reading “Garwin” instead- and the city finally had a name.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.