www.townofparkerarizona.com/history.html
Parker is the county seat for La Paz County.
The original town site of Parker was surveyed and laid out in 1909 by a railroad location engineer by the name of Earl. H. Parker. However, the Town’s name and origin began when a post office was established January 6, 1871, on the Colorado River Indian reservation to serve the Indian agency. The post office was named Parker in honor of General Eli Parker who was Commissioner of Indian Affairs when the Colorado River Indian reservation was established by Congress in 1865.
The Colorado River Indian Tribe reservation straddles the Colorado River from a point five miles north of Parker to a point 50 miles south and contains over 264,000 acres. The reservation was established for all Native Americans living along the river by act of Congress, approved by the President on March 3, 1865. The Tribes represented on the Reservation are the Mohave, Chemehuevis, Navajos, and Hopi.
In 1928, Parker Dam was completed, thus ensuring better water control of the river and creating a lake approximately 700 feet wide and 16 miles long called Lake Moovalya, and Indian word meaning “blue water”. Thus the creation of, and ease of access to Lake Moovalya changed the character of the Town of Parker to some extent from a service center for agricultural and mining workers to one of providing supplies and services to tourists, fishermen, hunters, and boat enthusiasts.
The Town of Parker officially incorporated as a town in 1948.
