Richard Denny Parker was an early railroad builder and former chief of two divisions of the Texas Railroad Commission. Parker graduated from the Univeristy of Texas with a degree in civil engineering in 1898. He began his career with the U. S. Geological Survey surveying Indian Territory before embarking on a railroad career in 1899. Parker worked for the International and Great Northern Railroad and the Houston and Texas Central Railroad before being named chief engineer of the Railroad Commission of Texas in 1908. In 1920 he became chief engineer of the new gas utilities division and was appointed chief in 1927. He resigned from state service in 1934 to become a private consultant until his retirement in 1948. Parker was married to Nona Lee Clement and fathered four sons and one daughter, Lila Anne Parker.
From the guide to the R. D. Parker Family Papers 72-31; 2000-074; 2002-104; 2002-149., 1924-1959, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
