Named after the horticulturist Samuel Bowne Parsons.
Samuel Bowne Parsons Sr. (1819–1906) was a well-known horticulturist who imported Japanese maples and propagated rhododendrons; his nursery lay within today's Kissena Park. Part of the boulevard is a road built in the 1870s to link Parsons' farm with Robert Bowne's, while its southern section, here in Jamaica, follows a colonial road to Flushing. The name recalls a time when Flushing's commerce had much to do with plant nurseries.