The son of a Methodist Clergyman, Alfred Parker was born in Maine in 1824. He served in the Mexican War and went to the California gold fields in the rush of 1849. In the early 1850’s he came back east by rail and then up the Mississippi by steamboat to St. Paul. In 1854, Parker homesteaded a farm near what is now 42nd and Perry. His first house stood in what is now the parking lot of EMI Audio. In 1855 Parker married his neighbor’s daughter, Elizabeth Malbon. Her father built the couple a fine house at 4109 Lakeland. A couple years later he built another house on an adjoining lot. The Parker house was used as a stopover by travelers and teamsters hauling on the Bottineau Road. Both houses, in the heart of the business district, were torn down in the 1970’s.
Parker donated three acres for Robbinsdale’s first depot. It was called Parker’s Station in his honor. In 1891 the First Congregational Church of Parker opened for services on the corner of Lakeland and Bottineau Road. When Crystal Village was dissolved and Robbinsdale was organized in 1893, there was some talk of naming the new village Parkerville, but Robbins was heavily invested in the community and Robbinsdale became the name. A fine brick school house built on Regent in 1895 was named in honor of Alfred Parker. Today the site is occupied by the Parker Village housing development.
