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BHistory
History · Whittier

Whittier’s post office opened in 1887, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #103 of 847 in California. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1890.

1887first post office
6on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
50famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Whittier’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Whittier began

When was Whittier founded?

1887

The Whittier post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 585 in 18902020 census: 87,306139 years

How historic is Whittier?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Whittier post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Whittier’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Whittier is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #103 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Whittier’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194014.0% of homes (±1.4) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register6 listings, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 88%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Whittier’s 0.7 sits above most of its state (73% of California towns have fewer) while its 6 listings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Whittier’s past

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

On the map since 18968 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1981. Watch Whittier change.Mystery photos16 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1888 to 1912, drew every building in Whittier.A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the map

Whittier on the map, 1896 to 1981

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 1896 USGS mapWhittier on the 1902 USGS mapWhittier on the 1923 USGS mapWhittier on the 1949 USGS mapWhittier on the 1951 USGS mapWhittier on the 1965 USGS mapWhittier on the 1972 USGS mapWhittier on the 1981 USGS map1896Downey sheet · 1:62,500

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

Help out

Start Whittier’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whittier’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo16 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewNew invention for dropping airmail sack…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Whittier, building by building, 1888–1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Whittier fire insurance map, 1888, sheet 11888Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Whittier came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Whittier.

Read it all →

Whittier's roots can be traced to Spanish soldier Manuel Nieto. 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. 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 a 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, purchased cattle and horses for his ranch, and planted cornfields. When he died in 1804, his children inherited his property.

ChaptersQuakersCollegesWhittier Narrows earthquake

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Whittier in 1889

Passages that mention Whittier, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1873 he returned to Los Angeles County, and had his herds in various locations until 1877. In that year he rented the Town Ranch and other lands where the town of Whittier now stands. From nearly his first occupation of those lands he commenced their purchase.
An illustrated history of Los Angeles County, California. Containing a history of Los Angeles County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future ... and biographical mention of many of it1889 · page 822Read the page →
Read the text

In 1873 he returned to Los Angeles County, and had his herds in various locations until 1877. In that year he rented the Town Ranch and other lands where the town of Whittier now stands. From nearly his first occupation of those lands he commenced their purchase.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Whittier, 1860 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860BuiltJonathan Bailey House is built
  3. 1887Post officeThe Whittier post office opens
  4. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1914BuiltStandard Oil Building is built
  7. 1920In the archiveNew invention for dropping airmail sacks to earth from speeding plane
  8. 1930BuiltHoover Hotel is built
  9. 1952Born hereGeorge Allen is born here
  10. 1961Born hereEric Stoltz is born here
  11. 1975Born hereFergie is born here
  12. 1994Born hereCameron Dallas is born here
By decade

Whittier, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
New invention for dropping airmail sacks to earth from speeding plane1920New invention for dropping airmail sacks to earth fro…
1930s–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
Date unknown16 to date
Whittier Home Telephone Directory Supplement, No. 45Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory Supplement, No. 45BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory and Supplement, No. 45Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory and Supplement, No.…BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory and Supplement, No. 46Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory and Supplement, No.…BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 15Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 15BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 18Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 18BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 21Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 21BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 23Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 23BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 27Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 27BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 28Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 28BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 29Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 29BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 31Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 31BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 32Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 32BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 33Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 33BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 34Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 34BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 35Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 35BookWhittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 37Date?Whittier Home Telephone Directory, No. 37Book
Today4 recent
Tree-lined street in2026Tree-lined street inAerial view looking just north of east toward South San Jose Hills, Fullerton, and Anaheim, CA2026Aerial view looking just north of east toward South S…Aerial view looking just north of east toward City of Industry, South San Jose Hills, and Fullerton, CA2026Aerial view looking just north of east toward City of…Aerial view looking ENE toward South San Jose Hills and Fullerton, CA2026Aerial view looking ENE toward South San Jose Hills a…
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.

New invention for dropping airmail sacks to earth from speeding plane
Retake this viewNew invention for dropping airmail sacks to earth from speeding plane, 1920

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
On the National Register

6 historic places in Whittier

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Jonathan Bailey House
Jonathan Bailey House, built 1860Standard Oil Building, built 1914Orin Jordan HouseNational Bank of Whittier BuildingHoover Hotel, built 1930Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, Whittier
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission Revival1
Victorian1
Second Renaissance Revival1
Spanish Colonial Revival1
Stick1
Jonathan Bailey HouseBuilt 1860
Standard Oil BuildingMission Revival · Built 1914
Orin Jordan HouseVictorian
National Bank of Whittier BuildingSecond Renaissance Revival
Hoover HotelSpanish Colonial Revival · Built 1930
Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, WhittierStick

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Whittier, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000190019201940196019802000202087,306

Grew from 585 people in 1890 to 87,306 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

50 famous people were born in Whittier

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
FergieAmerican singer, rapper and actress · b. 1975
Eric StoltzAmerican actor from California · b. 1961
George AllenAmerican politician · b. 1952
Cameron DallasAmerican Internet personality · b. 1994
M
MartikaCuban-American singer, songwriter, and actress · b. 1969
Shirley BabashoffAmerican swimmer · b. 1957
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Whittier’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
ColimaEast WhittierEvergreenFriendly HillsLeffingwellSouth WhittierWest Whittier
Gone or out of use
John Muir High SchoolschoolJonathan Bailey SchoolschoolLeffingwell RanchlocaleMexican Friends ChurchchurchMurphy Memorial HospitalhospitalMurphy RanchlocaleWhittier Avenue Public SchoolschoolWhittwood Mall Shopping CenterlocaleWilliam Penn Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Whittier
Mount Olive

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

West Whittier-Los NietosIts storyC−La Habra HeightsIts storyC+South WhittierIts storyC−Pico Rivera1 historic placeC−East WhittierIts storyDSanta Fe Springs2 historic placesC+Hacienda HeightsIts storyC−

Questions about Whittier’s history

What year was Whittier founded?

The Whittier post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Whittier rank for history?

Whittier is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #103 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Whittier?

6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Jonathan Bailey House (listed 1977, the first).

How old are the homes in Whittier?

14% of Whittier’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1956.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (20), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.