Both buildings are four stories in height, and of masonry construction, with heavily bracketed projecting cornices at the roof line.

Its ground floor facade is a modern stylistic copy of the Imperial Granum Building, with paneled pilasters at the outer ends, and engaged round columns separating the window and door bays.

Both have been attributed to architects working in the office of Henry Austin: the Parker by David R. Brown, and the Imperial Granum by Rufus G. Russell.

The Parker Building was built for a paper manufacturer, who used the upper floors as a warehouse.

The Imperial Granum gets its name from a patent medicine marketed by its owner, Edward Heaton, and for many years sported an advertisement of that product on its exposed southeastern wall.