Parker is a home rule municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "town" under the home rule statutes, Parker is the second most populous town in the county; Castle Rock is the most populous (the community of Highlands Ranch, with a population of over 100,000, is an unincorporated CDP). In recent years, Parker has become a commuter town at the southeasternmost corner of the Denver metropolitan area. The population was 58,512 at the 2020 census. Parker is now the 19th most populous municipality in the state of Colorado.
History
Native Americans
The first known people to live in the area were ancient and Plains Woodland peoples. Utes, Arapaho, and Cheyenne were in the area by the 1800s. They were all hunter-gatherers who established seasonal camps to acquire food. A nearby rock shelter, Franktown Cave, shows evidence of habitation beginning in the early Archaic period about 6400 BC and continuing through each of the intervening cultural periods to 1725 AD.
Pine Grove
Stage roads were established on historic Cherokee and Trapper's Trails through present-day Denver. In 1864, Alfred Butters established the Pine Grove Way Station in a small one-room building (south of the current Parker United Methodist Church) to sell provisions, handle mail and messages, and provide respite for travelers. George Long and his wife purchased the building, moved it to its present location on Main Street, and expanded it to include ten rooms, a ball room and outbuildings. In 1870, the Douds purchased the Seventeen Mile House in what is now Centennial and sold the Twenty Mile House to James S. Parker, an American Civil War veteran from Illinois who came to Colorado in 1865. He added a blacksmith shop and mercantile store. In December 1870, It was first called Parkers' for the two brothers and largest landowners, but the apostrophe was later dropped. that provided service between Denver, Parker, and Colorado Springs. To ensure that the railroad came through the center of town, rather than along Cherry Creek, James Parker sold his right-of-way for $1 and his brother George sold his right-of-way to bring the railroad into the center of town to Parker station.
left|thumb|Rhode Island Hotel, 1908. Built near the railroad depot, the hotel had [[modern conveniences, a livery stable, a telephone company for the town, and a telegraph office. Over the years, it has been used for multiple purposes. It is now contained within the 20 Mile Center on Mainstreet. The outline of the old hotel can be seen from the rear of the building.]]
James donated three acres for Parker Cemetery around 1884, at which time it held the graves of his two sons. It holds the graves of early settlers, the earliest known death was in 1870. Parker (died 1910) and his wife Mattie (died 1887) are also buried there. The developer skipped town in 1971. About 1980 or 1981, the development was completed by another builder. Dean Salibury advocated for Parker's incorporation to protect its landowners. and Salisbury was Parker's first mayor. Parker grew exponentially in the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, during the growth of Denver's southern suburbs. Ruth Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town of Parker was given a grant by the History Colorado State Historical Fund a restoration project for the Parker Consolidated School at the Mainstreet Center. The Hood House, one of two houses that did not sustain any damage during the flood of Tallman Gulch in 1912, is located in Preservation Park. Some of the other historic sites include Tallman–Newlin Cabin and Parker Cemetery.
Geography
Parker is located in northeastern Douglas County. Its northernmost border follows the Arapahoe County line, and the city of Aurora touches the town's northeast border. The center of Parker is southeast of downtown Denver. Castle Rock, the Douglas County seat, is to the southwest. Unincorporated communities that border Parker are Dove Valley to the northwest, Stonegate to the west, and The Pinery to the south. Parker sits at an elevation of 5,900 feet above sea level.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which , or 0.02%, is water.
Climate
This climate type is usually found in the outskirts of true deserts in low-latitude, semi-arid regions. It has cooler, wetter weather resulting from the higher latitude and mid-latitude frontal cyclone activity. Annual precipitation totals are greater than in tropical and subtropical desert climates. Yearly variations in amount are not as extreme as in the true deserts but are nevertheless large. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "BSk". (mid latitude Steppe Climate).