Weatherford, Parker County
Baker Community Settlement in this part of Parker County began in earnest in the 1850s and the county was formally established in 1855. Josiah and Nancy Catherine "Kate" Baker, their four children, Josiah's parents and Kate's mother came to this area in 1854. The community that grew up around their homestead came to be called Baker. A general store and cotton gin were early commercial ventures. The Bakers donated land for the community school, which began in 1872 and was designated Baker School District No. 60 in 1884. It served the educational needs of children in the area until consolidating with Weatherford Schools in the 1950s. Josiah and Kate Baker also gave the land for Baker Baptist Church, organized as Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in 1854 by prominent pioneer Baptist minister Noah T. Byars. Josiah Baker's mother, Elizabeth, died in 1854 and was buried in what became the Baker Cemetery. Hers is the first documented burial in the cemetery, which also is the resting place of Josiah's father, Martin (d. 1858), and his wife, Kate (d. 1895). A Civil War veteran, Josiah moved from the community in 1895 and was buried in Crystal Falls in nearby Stephens County upon his death in 1907. As a pioneer community in this region of the state, Baker is a part of the rural heritage of Parker County and of Texas. It is a reminder of early settlement patterns as pioneers came to this area and made their homes. (2002)