Parker

In the suburbs of Douglas County

At the junction of the Smoky Hill Trail and the Cherokee Trail, the small town of Pine Grove grew around the 20 Mile House, so named for its distance to Denver. During the 1860’s and until train travel made stage and horse more and more obsolete in the 1880’s, the 20 Mile House was the rest stop and horse exchange for the wearied traveler. By that time, James Parker had managed the stage stop well enough to make the transition to serving rail travelers, and found the town named after him in honor of his business success and leadership ability.

Local gold strikes, agricultural growth, logging, and a growing commercial center made Parker an important business center by the 1920’s, even though rail traffic had slowed because of better rail lines running through Castle Rock. The rail line was abandoned after the 1935 Cherry Creek Flood washed out rails and bridges. Private ownership of the town of the town in the 1960’s and 1970’s led to many problems until the town was purchased by Jim Nicholson (later Republican National Committee Chairman). Nicholson’s management saw improved water resources and home building that resulted in enough stability to create a Town Board in the early 1980’s, and Parker became an incorporated town.