Lost Towns of Illinois - Parker City, Illinois.

Parker City, aka Parker, was a former settlement in Johnson County, Illinois. 

Parker City was west of New Burnside, south of Creal Springs, and founded at the crossings of the former Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway and Marion to Brookport branch of the Illinois Central Railroad. 

The settlement was named after George Washington Parker, a former president of St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad, the predecessor to the "Big Four."

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The Big Four wasn’t four railroad companies, but one — "The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company" [CCC&StL], (1889-1930).

At its peak, the village reached a population of nearly 300 but slowly began to decline in the 1920s. At one time, there were two hotels, two stores, a post office, dining rooms, and restaurants, and two barbershops that were always full of men. 

The Parker City Post Office opened on December 28, 1889, and closed on October 31, 1941. 

There were approximately 40 houses in Parker City during its pinnacle.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.