Whittier Water Department

Whittier Water Department Municipal Water Report Info

Whittier is located in Los Angeles County, approximately 12 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The city operates under a Council-Manager government system with a five-member City Council. Incorporated in 1898, Whittier became a charter city in 1955, covering 14.8 square miles with an estimated population of 87,369 as of January 2018.

The local economy features 436 professional services, 845 retail establishments, 200 family restaurants, 37 manufacturing facilities, 7 hotels, 2 car dealerships, and over 300 specialty shops primarily located in Uptown Whittier, the Quad shopping center, and Whittwood Town Center.

Historically, the area was part of a 300,000-acre land grant given to Manuel Nieto in 1784 by the King of Spain. By 1822, Mexico had gained independence from Spain and began appointing its own governors to Alta California. In 1834, Mexico started "secularizing" missions and granting land to individual rancheros. Juan Crispin Perez received Rancho Paso de Bartolo in 1835, land that originally belonged to San Gabriel Mission.

Perez eventually sold five parcels to Pio de Jesus Pico, who had served as Governor once (1832-33) and would become the last Mexican-appointed Governor of California (1845-46). Pico built his home east of the San Gabriel River, now the Pio Pico State Historic Park, which reopened after extensive renovations in 2003.

Modern Whittier traces back to 160 acres acquired by German immigrant Jacob Gerkens in 1868 for $234 under the Homestead Act. He built a small cabin that stands today as the Jonathan Bailey House. After changing hands several times, 1,259 acres were purchased in 1887 by a group of Quakers seeking to establish a new California community.

The group formed the Pickering Land and Water Development Company. Many East Coast "Friends" bought lots sight unseen, though all "good people" were welcome to settle. Local farmers grew grains, vegetables, and citrus. The town was named after fellow Quaker John Greenleaf Whittier, a renowned poet and editor who never visited the town but wrote a dedicatory poem titled "My Name I Give To Thee."