Ten kilometers west of the city, in Bergs Kl�tt, there are remnants of a younger Stone Age and Nordic Bronze Age settlements in the form of graves.
The town was a village until 1811 when it was given town privileges by royal charter under the name Oscarsstad in order to improve the economy of the area. This attempt was unsuccessful, and the town privileges were repealed in 1821 and the town was instead given the status of k�ping (township) and renamed Arvika. The town privileges were reinstated at the founding centennial in 1911, and the name Arvika remained. The city status is now obsolete, but Arvika is since 1971 the seat of the larger Arvika municipality.
The churches Mikael skyrkan, is from 1647 and the church in the centre, Trefaldighet skyrkan, is from the same year as the town, 1911
