Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Pauls Valley, OK

Pauls Valley is the county seat of Garvin County in south-central Oklahoma, set in the fertile Washita River valley near the junction of Interstate 35 and State Highway 19.

The city is named for Smith Paul, a North Carolina native who married into the Chickasaw Nation and established a plantation in 1847 where Rush Creek joins the Washita River, a settlement locals called Smith Paul's Valley.

The area was one of the earliest European-American settlements in Indian Territory, and postal service reached it by 1871.

Pauls Valley won the Garvin County seat in the 1907 statehood elections in part because floodwaters prevented voters backing rival towns from reaching the ballot boxes.

The town's plat was approved by the Dawes Commission in 1903, and its population grew from 2,157 at statehood to 4,232 by 1930.

Pauls Valley had 5,992 residents at the 2020 census, a slight decline from 6,187 in 2010, and its economy rests mainly on agriculture and oil production.

Three Pauls Valley landmarks are listed in the National Register of Historic Places: the Garvin County Courthouse, the historic Santa Fe Depot, and the Pauls Valley Historic District.

From 2005 until its closing in 2026, Pauls Valley was home to the Toy and Action Figure Museum, billed as the world's first museum devoted to the art and sculpting of action figures, which displayed more than 25,000 figures and drew visitors from all 50 states and 40 countries.

Pauls Valley hosts the Okie Noodling Tournament each June, the world's largest hand-fishing contest, in which competitors catch catfish bare-handed; the event grew out of a 2001 documentary and celebrated its 25th year in 2025.

The tournament's weigh-ins and festival are held around Wacker Park and the Santa Fe Depot Plaza, drawing thousands of spectators to the town of about 6,000.