Whittier, California

**Whittier** is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is near Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, La Habra and La Mirada. It is one of the oldest cities in the Los Angeles Area.  Early settlers included Manuel Nieto and Pio Pico.  In the 1880s, the land that is now Whittier was bought by Quakers, who named the city after John Greenleaf Whittier, a Quaker poet. These Quakers started Whittier College. In the early 1900s, Whittier was mostly orange groves, but became a suburb of Los Angeles after World War II. In 1987, a large earthquake hit the city, destroying many buildings and leading to a wave of civic activism. This activism helped save many old buildings, including the Bank of America Building, the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, and the Hoover Hotel.

The 2020 United States Census reported that Whittier had a population of 87,306.

Whittier's largest employers are Whittier College, Presbyterian Hospital, and Whittwood Mall. There has been talk of new development on the site of Nelles School for Boys and in Uptown. Besides Whittier College, Whittier has a community college, Rio Hondo College, five public high schools (Whittier, California, Pioneer, Santa Fe, and La Serna High), and several elementary and middle schools.

Many famous people have lived in Whittier, including Richard Nixon, who attended Whittier High and was a lawyer in the Bank of America Building.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Whittier, California
- **settlement type**: List of municipalities in California, City
- **image flag**: Flag of Whittier, California.svg
- **image caption**: Skyline of Whittier, California
- **image seal**: Seal of Whittier, California.png
- **image map**: LA County Incorporated Areas Whittier highlighted.svg
- **mapsize**: 250x200px
- **map caption**: Location of Whittier in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California
- **pushpin map**: California#USA
- **pushpin map caption**: Location in California and the contiguous United States
- **pushpin relief**: 1
- **pushpin label**: Whittier
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name1**: California
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in California, County
- **subdivision name2**: Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles
- **established title**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date**: February 25, 1898
- **government type**: Council-Manager
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Joe Vinatieri
- **leader title1**: Mayor Pro Tem
- **leader name1**: Octavio Cesar Martinez
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total sq mi**: 14.66
- **area land sq mi**: 14.65
- **area water sq mi**: 0.01
- **area total km2**: 37.97
- **area land km2**: 37.94
- **area water km2**: 0.03
- **area water percent**: 0.09
- **elevation ft**: 367
- **elevation m**: 112
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 87306
- **population rank**: List of largest California cities by population, 98th in California
- **population density sq mi**: 5824.9
- **population demonym**: Whittierite
- **utc offset**: −8
- **timezone dst**: Pacific Daylight Time, PDT
- **utc offset dst**: −7
- **postal code type**: ZIP Codes
- **postal code**: 90601–90610
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **area code**: Area code 562, 562