The park was named for Fort Parker, a nearby historic settlement established in 1833 and the site of the well-known Comanche Indian raid in May 1836 during which Cynthia Ann Parker was captured. During captivity, Cynthia Ann became the mother of the last great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. Many of the current structures in this park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Additionally, the men in Company 3807, black sons of area sharecroppers, laid down one of the most striking and ambitious of all CCC projects: an impressive 423-foot limestone and concrete dam across Navasota River, impounding 750-acre Lake Springfield. Activitities include camping, picnicking, swimming (unsupervised), fishing, bird watching, hiking, biking, canoeing, nature study and baseball/softball.