More about Whittier California

The city of Whittier is located in Los Angeles County and is home to an estimated 90,042 residents. Although the city has always had a steady population growth, it began to skyrocket in the 1990s; the population has increased from 77,807 in 1990 to 90,041 in 2010. The history of the city can be traced back to Spanish settlement and was once part of the Rancho Los Nietos. At the time of the Mexican-American War, a large majority of the city was owned by Pio Pico who built a hacienda in Whittier on the San Gabriel River that still stands today and is known as Pio Pico State Historical Park. When the city was founded, it was a small isolated town in which many Quakers resided. Among the first Quakers were Jonathan Bailey and his wife Rebecca who followed with Quaker traditions and held religious meeting on their porch. When the city began to grow, citizens named it after John Greenleaf Whittier, a well-known Quaker poet who wrote a dedication poem for the city called “My Name I Give To Thee”. The poet is remembered today with statues and an exhibit at the Whittier museum. Whittier never actually stepped foot in the area but is still remembered; even Whittier College is named after him, and the schools mascot is appropriately “the poet”. The city is well known for the Whittier Narrows earthquake, which struck October 1, 1987 at 7:42 a.m. and resulted in the deaths of eight people and a large amount of damage to the city’s uptown historical buildings. Whittier is home to several landmarks including the Rose Hill Memorial Park, the Grave of George Caralambo, the Paradox Hybrid Walnut Tree, the Whittier Museum, the Hoover Hotel, the Standard Oil Building and the Jonathan Bailey House. The Rose Hill Memorial Park is considered to be one of the largest cemeteries in the world. The area is also home to a number of celebrities including musicians, actors/actresses, radio hosts and many others.