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, and 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, serving local children until it consolidated 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 pioneer Baptist minister Noah T. Byars. Josiah Baker's mother, Elizabeth, died in 1854 and was buried in what became Baker Cemetery, the first documented burial there; the cemetery also became the resting place of Josiah's father, Martin, who died in 1858, and his wife, Kate, who died in 1895. A Civil War veteran, Josiah moved from the community in 1895 and was buried in Crystal Falls in nearby Stephens County after his death in 1907. As a pioneer community in this region of Texas, Baker reflects the rural heritage of Parker County and early settlement patterns as pioneers came to the area and made their homes.