Whittier (/ˈwɪtiər/) is a city in Southern California located within Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 85,331, reflecting an increase of 1,631 from the 83,680 counted in the 2000 Census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles (38.0 km2). Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities. Whittier was incorporated in February 1898 and became a charter city in 1955.[7] The city is named for the poet John Greenleaf Whittierand is home to Whittier College.
History
Whittier’s roots can be traced to Spanish soldier Manuel Nieto.[8] In 1784, Nieto received a Spanish land grant of 300,000 acres (1,200 km2), Rancho Los Nietos, as a reward for his military service and to encourage settlement in California.[7] The area of Nieto’s land grant was reduced in 1790 as the result of a dispute with Mission San Gabriel. Nonetheless, Nieto still had claim to 167,000 acres (680 km2) stretching from the hills north of Whittier, Fullerton and Brea, south to the Pacific Ocean, and from what is known today as the Los Angeles River east to the Santa Ana River. Nieto built a rancho for his family near Whittier, and purchased cattle and horses for his ranch and also planted cornfields. When Nieto died in 1804, his children inherited their father’s property.
At the time of the Mexican–American War, much of the land that would become Whittier was owned by Pio Pico, a rancher and the last Mexican governor of Alta California.[7] Pio Pico built a hacienda here on the San Gabriel River, known today as Pio Pico State Historic Park.[7] Following the Mexican–American War, German immigrant Jacob F. Gerkens paid $234 to the U.S. government to acquire 160 acres (0.6 km2) of land under the Homestead Act and built the cabin known today as the Jonathan Bailey House.[9] Gerkens would later become the first chief of police of the Los Angeles Police Department. Gerkens’ land was owned by several others before a group of Quakers purchased it and expanded it to 1,259 acres (5 km2), with the intent of founding a Quaker community. The area soon became known as a thriving citrus ranching region, with “Quaker Brand” fruit being shipped all over the United States. Later, walnut trees were also planted, and Whittier became the largest walnut grower in the United States.[7] In addition to walnuts and citrus, Whittier was also a major producer of pampas grass.
For many years, the sole means of transport from this area to Los Angeles was on foot, or via horse and wagon over rough dirt roads, impeding settlement, development, and the export of agriculture.[10] Thus in 1887 “enterprising and aggressive businessmen” contracted with the Southern Pacific Railroad to build the first railroad spur to Whittier, including a depot.[11] The businessmen covered the $43,000 construction cost for the six-mile spur, which branched off from the Southern Pacific mainline at a junction near what is now Studebaker Road between Firestone Boulevard and Imperial Highway.[12] By 1906, 650 carloads of oranges and 250 carloads of lemons were shipped annually by rail. In 1904, the Pacific Electric opened the trolley line known as “Big Red Cars” from Los Angeles to Whittier. In the first two decades, over a million passengers a year rode to and from Los Angeles on the Whittier line.[7] Groves of walnuts were planted in 1887 and eventually Whittier was known as the primary walnut growing town in the United States.[8] After World War II Whittier grew rapidly and the sub-dividing of orange groves began, driven by housing shortages in southern California. In 1955 the new Civic Center complex was completed and the City Council met in new chambers for the first time on March 8, 1955. The city continued to grow as the City annexed portions of Whittier Boulevard and East Whittier. The 1961 annexation added over 28,000 people to the population, bringing the total to about 67,000.[7]
Etymology
In the founding days of Whittier, when it was a small isolated town, Jonathan Bailey and his wife, Rebecca, were among the first residents. They followed the Quaker religious faith and practice, and held religious meetings on their porch. Other early settlers, such as Aquila Pickering, espoused the Quaker faith. As the city grew, the citizens named it after John Greenleaf Whittier, a respected Quaker poet, and deeded a lot to him. Whittier wrote a dedication poem, and is honored today with statues and a small exhibit at the Whittier museum; a statue of him sits in Whittier’s Central Park, and another representing his poem The Barefoot Boy[13] used to reside by the City Hall. Whittier never set foot there, but the city still bears his name and is rooted in the Quaker tradition.[7]
Quakers
The first Quaker meetings were held on the front porch of the Jonathan Bailey House.[9] Eventually, as more Quakers arrived, the need for an actual Meeting House arose and the first Quaker meeting house was built on the corner of Comstock Avenue and Wardman Street in 1887. The meeting soon outgrew this 100 seat meeting house and a new larger building was erected on the corner of Philadelphia Street and Washington Avenue in 1902. By 1912, membership had grown to 1,200 and a third building was dedicated on the same site in 1917. With a capacity of 1,700, the 1917 meeting house featured a balcony and was constructed of brick with mahogany paneling and pews. The present meeting house, dedicated in 1975, features many architectural elements and materials from the 1917 building including the stained glass windows and mahogany interior.[14] The Quakers also founded Whittier Academy (later Whittier College), and additional meetings met in East Whittier and at Whittier College’s Mendenhall. Both the Mendenhall meeting and the East Whittier meeting kept the silent meeting longer than the main church.
Colleges
In 1887 the Pickering Land and Water Company set aside a 20-acre (81,000 m2) parcel of land for the development of a college, but a collapse in the land boom stalled construction. Progress on developing a college was sporadic, but on July 30, 1896 the Whittier Academy, operating since 1891, officially changed its name to Whittier College with 100 students enrolled. The school mascot is “The Poet.” By 1906, Whittier College was an educational institution with laboratories, boarding halls, a large gymnasium and athletic fields. Due to an economic depression in the 1890s, the first bachelor’s degrees were not awarded at the college for 17 years.[7]
The Mendenhall Building at Whittier College was donated by Leona May Mendenhall in honor of her husband Oscar. The Mendenhalls were among the founding families of Whittier. Oscar’s brother, Samuel Mendenhall, helped bring in the water system and post office. The Mendenhalls were large growers for Sunkist oranges and Blue Diamond walnuts.
Whittier was the first home to Azusa Pacific University, established on March 3, 1899, by the Quaker community and a Methodist evangelist under the name Training School for Christian Workers.[15]
Whittier Narrows earthquake
On October 1, 1987, at 7:42 a.m., the Whittier Narrows earthquake struck, the epicenter being six miles (10 km) north by northwest of Whittier. The seismic event, which registered 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale, resulted in eight casualties and massive damage to uptown Whittier’s historic buildings. Three days later, on October 4, 1987, at 3:59 a.m., a major aftershock measuring 5.2 occurred, causing further damage. Buildings and residential structures which were already borderline unsafe were now deemed unsafe or uninhabitable. In the years following the earthquake, the city’s deteriorating uptown business district, which suffered substantial damage in the earthquake, became the focus of renewed development, which met with opposition from many Whittier citizens. Out of the rubble of the earthquake the Whittier Conservancy was formed in 1987 in an effort to stop the demolition of many historic buildings and residences after the disaster. The city also created a Historic Resources Commission to oversee the approval of historic designations, historic districts and Mills Act proposals. The Whittier Narrows earthquake also destroyed The Quad at Whittier, a shopping mall which had to be rebuilt.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.7 square miles (38 km2), virtually all land.
Whittier is bordered by the community of Hacienda Heights to the northeast, City of Industry to the north, and several other unincorporated communities in the San Gabriel Valleymostly along its northern sections. Pico Rivera lies at the west, La Habra Heights to the east, La Habra to the southeast and Santa Fe Springs to the south.
Whittier is situated approximately 15 mi (24 km) inland of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in higher daytime temperatures, and since it lies at a higher elevation than the cities further west, cold air drains into the lower elevation of the Los Angeles Basin which results in warmer night-time lows, producing an example of thermal inversion. Winter daytime highs typically range from 68 °F to 80 °F (20 °C to 27 °C) with overnight lows dropping to about 43 °F to 54 °F (6° to 12 °C). In the summer highs range from 78 °F to 95 °F (26 °C to 35 °C) and corresponding overnight lows in the 58 °F to 72 °F (14 °C to 22 °C). Rainfall follows a Mediterranean pattern with the majority of the rain falling during the winter months, while summer tend to be rather dry. The mean annual rainfall is approximately 14 inches.
Neighborhoods
There are several neighborhoods in Whittier. The area centered around Philadelphia Street and Greenleaf Avenue is known as Uptown Whittier and contains the traditional central business core. Just north of Uptown Whittier are the neighborhoods known as Central Park and Hadley-Greenleaf. They have been designated historic districts by the city Historic Resources Commission, and together comprise most of the area of the Whittier Historic Neighborhood Association. These districts contain many Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival homes. In and abutting the hills north of the historic districts is Starlite Estates. The area surrounding Whittier College is known as College Hills and was also recently designated a historic district, as has a small cluster of homes along Earlham Drive. The area east of College Avenue is referred to as East Whittier. East Whittier was a separate agricultural community until the postwar era. The eastern parts of East Whittier, developed in the 1950s and ’60s, are Friendly Hills, which was developed at the same time as Murphy Ranch and Leffingwell Ranch. Friendly Hills and Murphy Ranch are generally thought of as north of Whittier Boulevard, while Leffingwell Ranch is south of the boulevard. The area at the extreme east of Whittier is occasionally referred to as Sunglow. Beverly Blvd. especially east of Greenleaf Ave is a short series of 4-way stops at a slight incline leading to Turnbull Canyon Road which many locals consider a “Mini-Mulholland“, and as such, attracts sports car enthusiasts and motorcyclists. Turnbull ends in a T-intersection at Hacienda Rd. in Hacienda Heights. Additionally, motorists can turn right onto Hacienda for more winding and hilly roads, coming out on Whittier Blvd. in La Habra Heights. From there one can turn left to join Fullerton Road or right to Euclid Ave. or Idaho St. to continue their driving adventure.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census[18] reported that Whittier had a population of 85,331. The population density was 5,818.6 people per square mile (2,246.6/km²). The racial makeup of Whittier was 55,117 (64.6%) White (28.3% Non-Hispanic White, 36.3% White Hispanic),[4] 1,092 (1.3%) African American, 1,093 (1.3%) Native American, 3,262 (3.8%) Asian, 123 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 20,848 (24.4%) from other races, and 3,796 (4.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 56,081 persons (65.7%).
The Census reported that 83,696 people (98.1% of the population) lived in households, 1,083 (1.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 552 (0.6%) were institutionalized.
There were 28,273 households, out of which 11,289 (39.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,152 (50.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4,566 (16.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,896 (6.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,770 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 247 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6,096 households (21.6%) were made up of individuals and 2,495 (8.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 20,614 families (72.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.46.
The population was spread out with 21,686 people (25.4%) under the age of 18, 9,198 people (10.8%) aged 18 to 24, 23,627 people (27.7%) aged 25 to 44, 20,819 people (24.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,001 people (11.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.
There were 29,591 housing units at an average density of 2,017.8 per square mile (779.1/km²), of which 16,207 (57.3%) were owner-occupied, and 12,066 (42.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.1%. 49,393 people (57.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34,303 people (40.2%) lived in rental housing units.
During 2009–2013, Whittier had a median household income of $68,522, with 12.4% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[4]
