Explore 31 incredible vintage photographs documenting daily life in Whittier, California from the early 20th century - Old Us

   

Whittier is located in Los Angeles County, about 12 miles southeast of the City of Los Angeles, California.

The City of Whittier has a diverse and colorful history beginning with the Gabrielino Indians who first inhabited the area during the City’s pre-history. Later, Spanish California (1769-1821) would influence the region with the establishment of both missions and large ranchos. It was the Spanish land grant given to retired solider Jose Manuel Nieto in 1784 that would encompass part of present day Whittier.
During the 1920s and 1930s, residential and commercial development was becoming increasingly geared toward accommodating the automobile. This became evident as residential garages replaced barns and streets were widened and paved with parking spaces to accommodate automobile traffic as the use of public rail for transportation waned and eventually ended in Whittier by 1938.

Here, below are some rare and amazing vintage photos that show the life in Whittier, California from between the 1900s and 1920s.

 
Whittier College Girls Basketball Team in 1900 in front of Founders Hall in Whittier, California.

 

 
Driving on Turnbull Canyon in Whittier, 1914

 

 
Whittier, CA Fire Department in 1904

 

 
Whittier Bakery truck, 1900

 

 
Celebrating the building of Turnbull Canyon Road in Whittier, CA, 1913

 

 
Golden Rule Store, 1910

 

 
D.E. McDaneld Packard store, vintage cars and lots of girls back in Whittier, California, 1925. They even used girls to sell cars back then!

 

 
The Greenleaf Hotel on Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, 1910

 

 
First National Bank, corner of Greenleaf and Philadelphia in Whittier, California, ca. 1907

 

Citrus Packing, California, 1910

 

The Quaker community of Whittier in 1907

 

J.A. Buckmaster Shoe store with owners on Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, 1910

 

County Road in Whittier, 1920

 

Vintage Road Rally, Whittier, 1912

 

William Penn Hotel, early 1900s

 

Carrying telephone poles, 1910

 

Lady plowing California in 1910

 

California farm school, 1900

 

Santa Fe Springs oil crew

 

Kids at Bailey Street School, 1907

 

Whittier, California had many walnut trees back in the early 1900s

 

Phildelphia St., Whittier, CA, 1924

 

Cabbage packing industry near the Whittier Brick Company in 1910

 

Barber shop 1906

 

Croquet game, 1920

 

Whittier Sanitary Dairy, 1925

 

May Pole Dance, Whittier, 1905

 

Hazlitt Market and A&R Cleaners on Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, California, ca. 1920s

 

Walnut shipping at Rivera Freight House, 1925

 

 

 
The News, Whittier, CA, 1905. This was the location of the The News and its employees in Whittier, California.