Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Whittier

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Whittier

Whittier’s post office opened in 1946

Most of Whittier was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1954. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1950.

1946first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Whittier’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Whittier began

When was Whittier founded?

1946

The Whittier post office opened in 1946, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1969.

First census: 627 in 19502020 census: 27280 years
Founding year: the first Whittier post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1969.The full story ↓

What stands out about Whittier’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1960 and 1970, then more than doubled.Old housesHalf of Whittier’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · People over time

Whittier, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020809 in 1960Low: 130

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1960 and 1970, then more than doubled.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whittier’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Whittier came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Whittier.

Read it all →

The region occupied by Whittier was once part of the portage route of the Chugach people native to Prince William Sound. Later, the passage was used by Russian and American explorers, and by prospecting miners during the Klondike Gold Rush. The nearby Whittier Glacier was named for American poet John Greenleaf Whittier in 1915, and the town eventually took the name as well.

During World War II, the United States Army constructed a military facility, complete with port and railroad, near Whittier Glacier and named the facility Camp Sullivan. The spur of the Alaska Railroad to Camp Sullivan was completed in 1943, and the port became the entrance for United States soldiers into Alaska.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Whittier, 1946 to 1985

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1946Post officeThe Whittier post office opens
  3. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1954In the archiveWhittier, Alaska, Tug Boat, 1954
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 809
  6. 1961Post officeThe Whittier post office closes
  7. 1964In the archiveAlaskaQuake-Tire
  8. 1985In the archiveSeal of
By decade

Whittier, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s–1980s5 items
Whittier, Alaska, Tug Boat, 19541954Whittier, Alaska, Tug Boat, 1954Whittier, Alaska, Sept. 19571957Whittier, Alaska, Sept. 1957Whittier, Alaska, Aug. 16th, 19571957Whittier, Alaska, Aug. 16th, 1957AlaskaQuake-Tire1964AlaskaQuake-TireSeal of1985Seal of
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Whittier Habour2005Whittier HabourPrince William Sound2004Prince William SoundKayakers on Prince William Sound2004Kayakers on Prince William SoundAlaska Railroad passenger train - Whittier, Alaska - 14 July 20042004Alaska Railroad passenger train - Whittier, Alaska - …Alaska Railroad in2004Alaska Railroad inAKMap-doton-Whittier2004AKMap-doton-WhittierWhittier2003Whittier
On the map

Whittier on the map, 1951 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whittier. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Whittier on the 1951 USGS mapWhittier on the 1984 USGS mapWhittier on the 1995 USGS map1951Seward D-5 sheet · 1:63,360

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Whittier.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Whittier, Alaska, Tug Boat, 1954
Retake this viewWhittier, Alaska, Tug Boat, 1954, 1954

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Whittier’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Whittier had its own post office from 1946 to 1961.

Whittier
1946–1961
19401980today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Whittier’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWhittier, Alaska, Tug Boat, 1954: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Whittier’s history

What year was Whittier founded?

The Whittier post office opened in 1946, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1969.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.