Documentary History of American Water-works

Parker

Parker, Pennsylvania

Parker was incorporated as a city in 1873, combining the villages of Parker's Landing and Lawrenceburg.

The first water works were built in 1872 by the Parker's Landing and Lawrenceburg Water Company. The system pumped water from the Allegheny River into tanks using a steam engine and began service on Thanksgiving Day, 1872.

The Parker City Water Company was incorporated on January 16, 1891.

The City of Parker bought the water company in 1936 for $4,500.

The Parker City Municipal Authority was incorporated on June 24, 1946 to build and finance a new water works which was completed in 1953.

The Parker Area Authority was incorporated on January 12, 1987.

The City of Parker established the water authority in 1987. From that time until September 1999, the City handled the sewage as Parker City Sewage Authority. In 1999, the system was expanded to include Northeast Parker Township (Butler County) and the system was turned over to the Parker Area Authority. Today it serves 350 residential and 20 commercial customers.

Water is provided by the Parker Area Authority | also here.|

References
1878 Parkinson, for use, versus The City of Parker, 85 Pa. 313, January 7, 1878, Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Bond of the Parker's Landing and Lawrenceburg Water Company.

1882 Parker from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.

1884 Parker, from Engineering News, 11:290 (June 7, 1884)

1888 "Parker," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1890 "Parker," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Parker," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1897 "Parker," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1906 Quality of Water in the Upper Ohio River Basin and at Erie, Pa., by Samuel James Lewis
Pages 24-25: Parker, Pa.

1911 Old Times in Oildom, by George Washington Brown

1936 "City of Parker Wants to Go Into Water Business," The News-Herald (Franklin, Pennsylvania), January 30, 1936, Page 1. | Part 2 |
Last Oct. 28, Mayor Claude D. Smith secured an option to buy out the water company, lock, stock and barrel, for $4,800 and city council a week later voted a $5,000 bond issue to finance the deal, which the Public Service Commission must approve.

1936 "Smallest City to Have Own Water Plant," Harrisburg Sunday Courier, March 22, 1936, Page 5.

1946 "Parker to Have Water Works," The Blizzard (Oil City, Pennsylvania), May 18, 1946, Page 3.

2008 From Boom to Bust: The Making of the Smallest City in the U.S.A. by Marilyn McCall