Park lived in Red Wing for his first eighteen years. He was not considered a promising student, but he liked learning about the people in his town and their ancestries, a niche which would prove to be useful throughout his life. Park graduated high school in 1882—finishing tenth overall in a class of thirteen. Park was interested in attending college after high school, but his father did not allow him to do so, ironically because he felt his son was not "study material." As a result, Robert ran away from home and found a job working on a railroad.