Harvey D Parker is notable as the founder of the Parker House one of Boston's most famous hotels. His wife, Julia Brown Parker, was responsible for managing the restaurant of the Hotel and planning particularly tempting menus. It was she who originated the famous Parker House roll. - NRHP
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
| 1805/00/00 | Harvey D Parker is born in Temple, Maine. He spends much of his youth in Paris, Maine. | Born | Paris, ME | Maine | |||
| 1825/00/00 | With less than $1 in his satchel, Harvey Parker arrives in Boston Harbor on a packet from Maine. His first job, as a caretaker for a horse and cow, earns him $8 per month. He subsequently finds work as a coachman for a wealthy Watertown woman. | Life | |||||
| 1832/00/00 | When Parker trots the horse-drawn coach into Boston, he eats his lunch at John E Hunt's cellar cafe on Court Square. By 1832, Parker buys Hunt's cafe for $432, and renames it Parker's Restaurant soon attracting businessmen, lawyers and newspapermen. | Life | |||||
| 1839/04/13 | On Thanksgiving Day of 1839, Julia Brown, sister of Mrs Bickford, marries Harvey D Parker. | Groom | Maj John Gilman House | Exeter, NH | |||
| 1854/04/22 | Harvey Parker buys the former Mico Mansion on School Street and demolishes the decrepit boarding house. | Work | Parker House | Boston | |||
| 1855/10/08 | Harvey Parker opens the first hotel in America to offer the European plan, where guests can pay for their room separately from meals. American hotels usually include meals in the room charge, serving uninspired meals during rigid dining schedules. | Owner | Parker House | Boston | |||
| 1875/00/00 | In the early 1870s, Parker House Rolls are invented at the Parker House Hotel by Harvey Parker's wife, Julia Brown Parker. Or, possibly by a German baker, Herr Ward. | Owner | Parker House | Boston | Parker House Roll | ||
| 1884/05/31 | Harvey D Parker dies. His funeral is held at the Arlington Street Church and the facade of the Parker House is "heavily draped" in mourning. | Died | Arlington Street Church | Boston | |||
| 1884/06/00 | Harvey D Parker is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. | In Memoriam | Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge | Cambridge, MA | |||
| 1898/00/00 | Harvey D Parker leaves $100,000 to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Established in 1898, the Harvey Drury Parker fund saved the Department of Prints that was threaten with extinction. | In Memoriam | MFA Boston | Boston |
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