Editing George Alexander Parks

{{short description|American engineer and 5th Governor of Alaska Territory (1883-1984)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox officeholder 
| name=George Alexander Parks
| image name=George Alexander Parks.jpg
| office=5th Governor of [[Alaska Territory]]
| term_start=June 17, 1925
| term_end=April 19, 1933
| nominator= [[Calvin Coolidge]]
| predecessor=[[Scott Cordelle Bone]]
| successor=[[John Weir Troy]]
| birth_date={{birth date|1883|5|29}}
| birth_place= [[Denver]], Colorado
| death_date={{death date and age|1984|5|11|1883|5|29}}
| death_place=[[Juneau, Alaska|Juneau]], Alaska
| profession=[[Mining engineer]], [[Cadastre]]
| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|}}
'''George Alexander Parks''' (May 29, 1883 – May 11, 1984) was an American engineer who worked in [[Alaska Territory]] for most of his career.  Following an unexpected nomination from President [[Calvin Coolidge]], he became the territory's first resident governor.  As governor, he was the first person to serve two complete four-year terms and the first chief executive to travel extensively by air.<ref name="ADNobit">{{cite news |title=Territorial Governor George Parks Dies |page=B1 |newspaper=Anchorage Daily News |date=May 12, 1984 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-B8fAAAAIBAJ&pg=5952,6470430 }}</ref>

==Background==
Parks was born to James and Mary Leach (Ferguson) Parks on May 29, 1883, in [[Denver]], Colorado.  He was educated in public schools before graduating from the [[Colorado School of Mines]] in 1906.  After graduation, he worked as a mining engineer in Canada, Mexico, and the Western United States before arriving in Alaska in 1907 as part of an engineering team tasked with making evaluations for a group of investors.<ref name="McMullin & Walker">{{cite book |last1=McMullin |first1=Thomas A. |last2=Walker |first2=David |title=Biographical Directory of American Territorial Governors |publisher=Meckler Publishing |location=Westport, CT |year=1984 |isbn=0-930466-11-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire0000mcmu/page/18 18–20] |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire0000mcmu/page/18 }}</ref>

[[File:George Alexander Parks in Camp c 1915.jpg|thumb|left|Parks in a field camp, c. 1915]]
In 1908, Parks worked for the [[United States Land Office]] in Denver as a mineral examiner for two months before taking a similar position in Alaska.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  Following the [[American entry into World War I]], he joined the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]].<ref name="NYTobit">{{cite news |title=George A. Parks, 100; Was Alaska Governor |page=34 |newspaper=New York Times |date=May 13, 1984  }}</ref>  Rising to the rank of [[Captain (land)|captain]] by the war's end, he returned to the Land office after his military service.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>

In 1920, Parks was appointed Chief of the [[United States Land Office]] in Juneau. Four years later he was in Anchorage working as Assistant Supervisor of Surveys of Public Lands for Alaska.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  During his time with the land office, he traveled extensively throughout the territory, gaining an intimate knowledge of the geography and becoming acquainted with both the white and indigenous populations of Alaska.<ref name="real alaskan">{{cite news |title='Real Alaskan' Chosen to Govern Territory |page=XX8 |newspaper=New York Times |date=March 8, 1925  }}</ref>

==Governorship==
While President [[Warren G. Harding]], [[Hubert Work]], and [[Herbert Hoover]] were visiting Alaska, Parks was assigned as a tour guide for the dignitaries.  The group was impressed by their guide's detailed knowledge of the territory.  When President [[Calvin Coolidge]] was later looking for a new territorial governor, Work and Hoover, who by then were both members of the [[Cabinet of the United States|Presidential Cabinet]], recommended Parks.<ref name="real alaskan"/>  Coolidge nominated Parks to be Governor of Alaska Territory on February 14, 1925, and the new governor took his oath of office on June 17, 1925.<ref name="appointment">{{cite news |title=Parks is Nominated Governor of Alaska |page=2 |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 15, 1925  }}</ref><ref name="oath of office">{{cite news |title=New Governor for Alaska |page=2 |newspaper=New York Times |date=June 18, 1925  }}</ref>

Transportation was a major issue for the territory during the Parks administration.  To offset running deficits and reduced federal subsidies, rates for the [[Alaska Railroad]] were raised and a toll was implemented on the [[Richardson Highway]].  One area that saw an improvement however was air travel.  In 1925 funds for landing fields was authorized by the territorial legislature.  Two years later subsidized air travel between the Alaska Railroad and [[Seward Peninsula]] was initiated.  Parks became an avid enthusiast of air travel, using it to inspect much of the territory in May and June 1929.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  The speed and increased mobility even allowed him to attend his niece's graduation in California.<ref name="Flies">{{cite news |title=Governor Flies From Alaska |page=18 |newspaper=San Jose News |date=May 13, 1984 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9VIiAAAAIBAJ&pg=6258,6586195}}</ref>

Much of Parks' term of office was largely uneventful.  Among the issues he dealt with were the reduction in federal funding for the [[United States Geological Survey]] and elimination of the territory's agricultural experimentation stations.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  He also initiated a contest among school children to design a [[Flag of Alaska|territorial flag]].<ref name="Obit">{{cite news |title=George Parks |page=A17 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=May 13, 1984 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FQAaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6798,6018334 }}</ref>

Parks was reappointed for a second term by President Hoover on September 27, 1929.
<ref name="reappointment">{{cite news |title=Names Alaska Governor |page=4 |newspaper=New York Times |date=Sep 28, 1929  }}</ref>  He left office on April 19, 1933, following the completion of his term.<ref name="ADNobit"/><ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>

==Later life==
After leaving the governor's office, Parks settled in Juneau and became District [[cadastre|Cadastral]] Engineer of Alaska.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  He remained there until his retirement from the [[Bureau of Land Management]] in July 1948.<ref name="retirement">{{cite news |title=Parks Quits Alaska Job |page=20 |newspaper=New York Times |date=July 4, 1948 }}</ref>  After leaving government service, he worked for the R.J. Sommers Construction Company and became Vice-President of the First National Bank of Juneau.<ref name="ADNobit"/>

Parks never married. During the mid-1970s, Parks was forced to leave his Juneau apartment and move into a [[nursing home]].  In 1975, the  [[George Parks Highway|Parks Highway]] (Alaska Route 3) between [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]] and [[Fairbanks, Alaska]], was named in his honor.<ref name="Parks Highway">{{cite news |title=Parks Highway |page=4 |newspaper=Anchorage Daily News |date=July 16, 1975 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oD8dAAAAIBAJ&pg=5027,1440414 }}</ref>  Parks died on May 11, 1984, at the age of 100 in Juneau, Alaska.<ref name="ADNobit"/>

==References==
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==External links==
{{Portal|Alaska|Biography}}
* [http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/cdmg21&CISOPTR=2416&REC=13 Alaska's Digital Archives] – Photo from his 99th birthday party, held at [[Bartlett Regional Hospital|Bartlett Memorial Hospital]] in Juneau on May 29, 1982.  [[Jay Hammond]] (then [[governor of Alaska]]) and [[Dora M. Sweeney]] join Parks's niece in serving him [[birthday cake]].

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{{Succession box
| before=[[Scott Cordelle Bone]]
| title=[[List of Governors of Alaska|Territorial Governor of Alaska]]
| years=1925–1933
| after=[[John Weir Troy]]
}}
{{s-hon}}
{{Succession box|title=Earliest serving US governor | before=[[William H. McMaster]] | after=[[Alfred M. Landon]] | years=1968–1984}}
{{S-end}}
{{Governors of Alaska}}

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[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:Alaska Republicans]]
[[Category:American Disciples of Christ]]
[[Category:American mining engineers]]
[[Category:Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Juneau, Alaska)]]
[[Category:Governors of Alaska Territory]]
[[Category:American men centenarians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Denver]]
[[Category:20th-century Alaska politicians]]