Martin Parker - Round Rock

Martin Parker - Round Rock

Written by Beth Wade Sunday, 07 October 2007

Martin Parker remembers a time when IH 35 did not exist and Chisholm Trail Drive was one of the only roads leading into Round Rock.

Before Parker became the postmaster of his hometown, the road wasn’t even known as Chisholm Trail because it was Parker who gave many of the roads the names they have today.

“When a subdivision came into town, there was no one to number it,” he said. “I had to take plats when they came to me and I had to number them. I had to name the streets because there was no one to do it.”

Parker was born in 1926 near Round Rock. After graduating in 1944 from Round Rock High School, he joined the Navy and fought in World War II. He served during the Korean War, but in the interim worked in the Austin Post Office. In 1965, at the recommendation of Congressman J.J. Pickle, he became postmaster at the Round Rock office where he served until 1981. The post office was located at 211 E. Main Avenue where city hall is now located.

At that time, only two people worked at city hall with the primary job of handwriting utility bills, Parker said.

Prior to 1967, most of the residents picked up their mail directly from the post office. Then Oct. 17 of that year, mail delivery began. For the first time, the post office took mail to people’s homes. It was while mapping carrier routes that Parker participated in naming many of the streets, including Palm Valley Boulevard, also known as Hwy. 79.

“That was a big step up. I thought people would be thrilled with city delivery. Wrong. They didn’t like it,” Parker said. “In those days, the post office was a social place in the morning for people to meet and talk about this, that and the other. Another thing, people didn’t want to wait to get their mail.”

He also took an old county map, drew in the grids himself and named those new streets when trying to get mail to the outlying areas.

“I didn’t know what I was doing, but when you’ve got to do something, you just do it,” Parker said. “We had a cup of tea to pour that I didn’t know how to pour, but I poured it anyway.”

Parker’s numbering system is still being used today, although some changes may have been made.

Now 82-years-old, retired and living in Georgetown, Parker is still involved in the city where he spent his childhood and much of his adult life.

He is an active member of the Old Settlers Association and is intent on keeping Round Rock history available to the public. He has written and published several books about his life and Round Rock with the help of his wife, Francinn.

He still remembers vividly his days at the post office.

“I still wake up at night with post office problems, 26 years later,” Parker said. “It was 25 years getting rid of military dreams and now it’s taken me 25 years to get rid of post office dreams. Twenty-five years from now I won’t have to worry about it.”