Parker Post Office Additional Historical Information
This first photo shows Central Electric Cooperative's (CEC's) first office location. It was located where the Post Office in Parker currently stands. CEC founders used this office location from 1937 to 1938. They also furnished this with second-hand furniture costing only $55 -- remember, things were tight when they were getting started. This got them one large desk, one smaller desk, and eight chairs from the Pittsburgh-Shawmut Coal Company.
When the founders realized they had outgrown the original office, they began looking for a new location. At this time, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in Washington, D.C. still had a lot of control over co-ops. They wanted CEC to look for new office locations in the Kittanning area. But CEC founders thought it was crucial to the success of the co-op that they were centrally located to their service territory -- and members. So instead, they signed a two-year lease on River Avenue in Parker -- shown in the second photo.
In 1942, CEC moved once again. This time building an office on Route 368 east of Parker. In 2012, CEC again needed to expand and so built a new office behind the previous one, and then tore down the older one.
CEC continues to grow after 85 years thanks to all its members. Keeping CEC founders' original vision alive today is still important to everyone at CEC. In the words of Ken Clark, retired CEC director of member and community relations, "a dream can become a reality with the cooperation of people working together."