Mortgage Loans in Parker

Things to do in Parker

Come spend a day here

Parker prides itself on providing a wide range of recreational and community events and activities to our citizens. These activities are often offered at a low or reduced cost to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate.

From Arbor Day and the annual Let Freedom Sing Fourth of July event to Barker Days and Bike to Work Day, we offer something for just about everyone. Not only do our events get the community involved, but they help to keep our hometown feel alive.

To view a comprehensive listing of upcoming events, please visit our online community calendar.

Groups looking to plan their own community event will need a Community Event Permit. Non-profit community event in Parker may also qualify for limited publicity assistance from the Town. Please check out this list of tips for planning your community event (PDF).

Annual Community Events Hosted by the Town of Parker

Bike to Work Day
Holiday Carriage Rides
Let Freedom Sing, Independence Day Celebration
Mayor’s Holiday Lighting
Christmas Carriage Parade
Camps and clinics for kids will keep them active during Spring Break!
Parker Parks and Recreation offers a wide variety of camps and clinics that will keep kids active during school breaks. Try out fencing, play some basketball, improve your lacrosse skills and more! Visit our Spring Breaks Camps page to get more information. (source: http://www.parkeronline.org/82/Community-Events)

Parker’s Neighborhoods

See info about our neighborhoods

Parker, Colorado is located in northern Douglas County Colorado and is known for having an excellent school system.

Home buyers relocating or planning a relocation to Parker, Colorado should find this to be a big help as it will give you a good idea of where each neighborhood is located within the Town of Parker.

During times of low inventory and high demand some Parker neighborhoods may not always have active homes for sale. This system updates continuously throughout the day so check back regularly if you don’t see any active homes in your specific neighborhood. (http://realestateyak.com/#neighborhood)

Parker County:
It’s about your health and well being. It’s about being able to get around on your streets and your roads. It’s about making sure your businesses thrive and your economy keeps growing. It’s about your kids and their safety. It’s about bridges and open space.

It’s about all the things you love about Douglas County. And even the things you might take for granted. The people who work for Douglas County play a key role in all of it.

They make sure your water is clean and your streets are cleared from ice and snow. They make sure that medical and mental health services are there when you need them. That the elderly are looked after and that the most vulnerable among us are protected. They’re involved in Animal Control, Zoning and everything in between.

They do it in partnership with state, local and federal governments. They do it with a lot of help from non-profit organizations, faith-based groups, private businesses and your neighbors.

Community Maps:

Town Boundary Map
Town Facilities Map
Open Space Map
Parks and Trails Map
Zoning Map
Downtown Public Parking Map
(source: http://www.douglas.co.us/about-us/)

History of Parker

See our rich history

According to popular legend, Parker can trace its colorful history to the establishment of the Pine Grove Way Station by Alfred Butters in 1864. Prior to that time, the area was used for hunting by Indians and renowned archaeologists have unearthed several semi-permanent hunting camps. The first residents of the area were the ancients (prehistoric), including Plains-Woodland Indians, and by the 1800s consisted mostly of Arapahoe, Cheyenne and Utes.

White men explored the general area in the early part of the nineteenth century. These included James Pursley in 1803, Baptiste LaLande in 1804, Stephen H. Long in 1820 and John Charles Fremont in 1843-44.

The old Indian trails that ran next to Cherry Creek near Parker were also used by early traders, trappers, frontiersmen and gold seekers, such as John Beck, Captain R.B. Marcy, William Green Russell, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Jim Baker, “Uncle Dick” Wootton, and Kit Carson.

The main trail became known as the Cherokee Trail and was a branch of Trapper’s Trail. When stage lines rolled into Colorado, it became known as the Smoky Hill Trail South, the West Cherry Creek Stage Road and the Denver-Santa Fe Stage Road.

Gold was discovered in Colorado in 1858, and the following year over 100,000 people followed the trails here in search of their fortunes. Small towns and settlements sprang up as the focus changed from gold to land.

Alfred Butters built a tiny one-room building in the pines just south of the present-day Parker United Methodist Church around 1864. Butters handled mail, supplied provisions and provided a place to leave messages. His place was a refuge for travelers and was appropriately named Pine Grove. He soon traded the building to a Mr. Goldsmith for a yoke of oxen, and Goldsmith in turn sold to Mr. and Mrs. George Long. The Longs moved the original structure to its present location on Mainstreet, and built an addition to include ten rooms and a second-story ballroom. They also added some other buildings to accommodate animals and wagons.

Since the property was situated about 20 miles from Denver City, the Longs named it 20 Mile House. Like the other “mile houses” in the area, it was a stage stop that provided meals, lodging and provisions. Although courthouse records bring dates into question, historical accounts generally agree that George Long traded the 20 Mile House to Nelson and Susan Doud in 1869 for a span of mules. The legend says that the Douds then sold it to James Sample Parker, an ex-bullwhacker and station manager who had been living in Kiowa, in 1874. However, the deed is dated September 15, 1870.

Under Parker’s ownership, the 20 Mile House grew and prospered; a blacksmith shop with equipment to shoe oxen and a general mercantile store were added to the facilities. It became Pine Grove’s first post office on December 8, 1870. James Parker granted rights-of-way for future roads, ditches, telephone lines and eventually the Denver & New Orleans Railroad. When his daughter, Edith Alice, reached school age, he provided the first schoolhouse across the road from the 20 Mile House. He also paid the teacher’s salary for the first year and provided her with room and board.

Land west of Highway 83 was owned by James Parker, but the land east of the highway was homesteaded by James’ brother, George. George established a saloon and was instrumental in seeing that other businesses located in the growing town. The railroad provided the impetus and by the turn of the century, Parker boasted a hotel, the post office, two blacksmith shops, water tower and pump house, three general mercantiles, a dry goods store, a saloon, a livery stable, a brick works, a stock yard, a creamery, a barber shop, a school, and a few miscellaneous dwellings. In nearby Newlin Gulch, gold was found in the mid 1880s. (source: http://www.parkerhistory.org/#!parkerhistory/cq4e)

Education in Parker

All about the educational system

Parker is served by Douglas County School District RE-1. Douglas County School District has among the highest level of students in Colorado. Students have scored, on average, 12 to 19 percent above the state average.The district was rated 9th in the state in 2009. The Pine Lane Elementary School had the largest student enrollment in Parker until Mammoth Heights Elementary opened in January 2007 and took the overload.

Two of the three principal high schools in the area, Ponderosa and Chaparral, have a cross-town rivalry and compete annually for The Pride of Parker trophy. Legend High Schoolopened in 2008, as Douglas County’s ninth High School.

Private schools in Parker include:

Ave Maria Catholic School (PK-8)
Southeast Christian School (PK-8)
Lutheran High School Parker (9–12)
Parker Montessori Educational Institute (PK-K)
Montessori Academy (PK-K)
For other Parker and Douglas County school information:

Pine Lane Primary
Frontier Valley Elementary School
Pine Lane Intermediate
Mammoth Heights Elementary School
Cherokee Trail Elementary
Iron Horse Elementary
Prairie Crossing Elementary
Legacy Point Elementary
Gold Rush Elementary
Pioneer Elementary School
Parker Secondary Schools

Sierra Middle School
Sagewood Middle School
Cimarron Middle School
Legend High School
Ponderosa High School
Chaparral High School
Parker also has four public charter schools:

American Academy (annual lottery)
Challenge to Excellence Charter School (annual lottery)
North Star Academy (annual lottery)
Parker Core Knowledge Charter School (students selected though a wait list; application at birth strongly recommended in order to gain entry for kindergarten)
College classes:

The University Center at Chaparral
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine  (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker,_Colorado#Education)