Parker’s post office opened in 1871, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #41 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Parker was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Parker Jail. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Parker post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1908.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Parker’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parker is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #41 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Parker’s overall grade.
Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Parker’s 3.0 sits above most of its state (68% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1908.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Founded in 1908, the town was named after Ely Parker, the first Native American commissioner for the U.S. government. The original town site of Parker was surveyed and laid out in 1909 by Earl H. Parker, a railroad location engineer for the Arizona & California Railway. The town officially incorporated in 1948 and became the county seat for the newly created La Paz County on January 1, 1983.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Parker post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1908.
How does Parker rank for history?
Parker is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #41 of 140 in Arizona. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Parker?
One place: the Parker Jail (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Parker?
2% of Parker’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1980.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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