The beginnings of the history of the City of Whittier, California, can be traced to a land grant extended to Jose Manuel Nieto in 1784. This grant represented permission to use the land for raising cattle, but was claimed by the Spanish king. This, of course was after Spain claimed the land originally occupied by the indigenous Native American peoples, for which one needs to refer to the history of Spanish exploration in the area.
In 1822, Mexico asserted it's independence from Spain, claiming California. The Church had it's own hold in the way of missions, but later “secularized” them, granting land to individual rancheros for development. Juan Crispin Perez received a grant for land that had belonged to the San Gabriel Mission, and then sold five parcels to Pio de Jesus Pico, a former governor of California. He was also the last Mexican appointed Governor of California (1845-1946).
In 1868, Jacob F. Gerkens purchased land on the south Slope of the Puente Hills under the U.S. homestead act, and built the “first house in Whittier,” which is now known as the Bailey House.
By 1887, the Pickering land and Water Company had purchased the land and the town was named “Whittier”, after Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. The poet never visited Whittier, but he did write a poem celebrating the honor.
The Pickering Land and Water Company had set aside a parcel of land for a Quaker college, which would become Whittier College, which opened in1896 as the Whittier Academy.
At first, Whittier was a farming community, with the Southern Pacific Railroad serving as the main artery of transportation of local produce. But not much later, the City of Whittier found economic growth in oil, as did our neighboring communities that are nestled in Hills.
Post World War II, the city's population began to grow. The orange groves began disappearing as land was divided and tract homes were built. You will notice that many of Whittier's homes, are of a similar era, circa 1950. As a nod to our agricultural beginnings, many of Whittier's homes still have orange, lemon and avocado trees in the yards.
While Uptown Whittier offers a historic shopping district, with many shops appropriate for the theme, there are also modern conventions, such as Starbuck's Coffee – a corporate venture, and Mimo's Cafe, where you can linger over coffee and other delicious food.
Our two large shopping centers, Whitwood Town Center and the Quad have seen many changes over the years, and have now grown to host recognized big box stores and restaurants, which is great for the local economy and provides convenient shopping to local residents. Read more about Shopping in Whittier, here.
Today, Whittier still retains much of it's old fashioned, small town atmosphere. Aside from the latest design in automobiles and the new developments along Whitter Boulevard, you can still get a glimpse of what it looked like here 50 years ago. Quiet tree-lined streets, parks with winding paths and friendly neighbors are all still a part of life in Whittier. You still see buildings and sidewalks created by the WPA in the 1930's. People still put a box of avocados on their front lawn, asking you to just leave your dollar there. And somehow, amazingly, though the population is over 80,000, you still sort of feel like you know everyone in town.
