Whittier, Alaska
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Whittier is a city at the head of the Passage Canal in the Chugach Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, about Template:Convert southeast of Anchorage.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The city is located within the Chugach Census Area, established in 2019 when the former Valdez–Cordova Census Area was dissolved.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The city's population was 272 at the 2020 census, having increased from 220 in 2010.<ref name="2020 Census Data">Template:Cite web</ref> Almost all of its residents live in the Begich Towers Condominium, earning it the nickname of a "town under one roof".<ref name="northern enclosure"/>
Whittier has an extremely wet climate, receiving an average of Template:Convert of precipitation per year.<ref name="northern enclosure">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = NOAA> Template:Cite web </ref> It is a port for the Alaska Marine Highway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
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The region occupied by Whittier was once part of the portage route of the Chugach people native to Prince William Sound. Later, the passage was used by Russian and American explorers, and by prospecting miners during the Klondike Gold Rush.<ref name=":0" /> The nearby Whittier Glacier was named for American poet John Greenleaf Whittier in 1915, and the town eventually took the name as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During World War II, the United States Army constructed a military facility, complete with port and railroad, near Whittier Glacier and named the facility Camp Sullivan. The spur of the Alaska Railroad to Camp Sullivan was completed in 1943, and the port became the entrance for United States soldiers into Alaska.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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The two buildings that dominate the town were built after World War II. The 14-story Hodge Building (renamed Begich Towers) was completed in 1957 and contains 150 two-and-three-bedroom apartments plus bachelor efficiency units. Dependent families and Civil Service employees were moved into this high-rise. The Whittier School was connected by a tunnel at the base of the west tower so students could safely access school on days with bad weather. The building was named in honor of Colonel Walter William Hodge, who was a civil engineer and the commanding officer of 93rd Engineer Regiment on the Alcan Highway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The other main structure in town, the Buckner Building, was completed in 1953, and was called the "city under one roof". The Buckner Building was eventually abandoned. Buckner and Begich Towers were at one time the largest buildings in Alaska. The Begich Towers building became a condominium and, along with the two-story private residence known as Whittier Manor, houses a majority of the town's residents.<ref>Template:Cite web p. 11 (number in corner, not of document)</ref>
The port at Whittier was an active Army facility until 1960. In 1962, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a petroleum products terminal, a pumping station and a Template:Convert, Template:Convert pipeline to Anchorage in Whittier.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On March 27, 1964, Whittier suffered over $10 million (equivalent to $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation/year) worth of damage in what became known as the Good Friday earthquake. As of 2022, the earthquake remains the largest U.S. earthquake, measuring 9.2 on the moment magnitude scale, and having caused tsunamis along the West Coast of the U.S. The tsunami that hit Whittier reached a height of Template:Convert and killed 13 people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Whittier was incorporated in 1969 and eventually became a port of call for cruise ships. It is utilized by local operations and about 100-passenger mid-sized cruise ships. When the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel opened to public access in 2000, it became the first highway to connect Whittier to Anchorage and inner Alaska—previously, the only ways to reach the town had been rail, boat and plane.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After the tunnel expanded access to Whittier, it began to be visited by larger cruise lines. It is the embarkation/debarkation point of one-way cruises from Anchorage to Vancouver by Princess Tours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Whittier is also popular with tourists, photographers, outdoor enthusiasts, paddlers, hikers, sport fishermen, and hunters because of its abundance of wildlife and natural beauty.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Whittier is located within the Chugach National Forest, the second-largest national forest in the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Whittier is in the Chugach School District and has one school serving approximately 48 students from preschool through high school, according to the 2019–2020 enrollment numbers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Geography
[edit]The only land access is through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, a mixed-use road and rail tunnel. The town is on the northeast shore of the Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Passage Canal, on the west side of Prince William Sound. It is Template:Convert southeast of Anchorage.<ref name=":0" />
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which, Template:Convert of it is land and Template:Convert of it (36.36%) is water.
Climate
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Whittier has a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc) using the Template:Convert isotherm and a subarctic climate (Dfc) using the Template:Convert isotherm under the Köppen climate classification, and has an annual precipitation of Template:Convert. Whittier's main weather station receives just over Template:Convert of precipitation in the average year.<ref name="NOAA"/> Whittier is located at the northern tip of the world's northernmost temperate rainforest, the Tongass.
Whittier's annual average temperature is Template:Convert, with the hottest month being July at Template:Convert and the coldest month being January at Template:Convert. Temperature extremes ranged from Template:Convert on December 23, 1942, to Template:Convert on July 23, 1966. Whittier's coldest temperatures typically fluctuate between Template:Convert and Template:Convert each year, so Whittier falls in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7a.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Demographics
[edit]Whittier first appeared on the 1950 U.S. census as an unincorporated village. It formally incorporated in 1969.
As of 2018, there were 205 people living in the city, with 313 available housing units.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Almost the entirety of this population lives within the 14-story Begich Towers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the city was 68.3% White, 10.6% Asian, 6.9% Hispanic, 5.7% Native American.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
There are 124 households in the town and the average household size is roughly 1.79 people, according to 2014 statistics. Of these households, 56 are families and 68 are non-families. 40.30% of the population is married, and 32.34% are divorced. 51.78% of the population has children.<ref name=":1" />
The age distribution within the city shows that 13.96 percent of the population is under the age of 18, 3.15 percent is between the ages of 18 and 24, 23.87 percent is between the ages of 25 and 44, 52.25 percent is between the ages of 45 and 64, and 6.76 percent of the population is above the age of 65.<ref name=":1" />
The median income for a household in the city was $45,000 in 2019. The per capita income for the city was $29,106. Unemployment in Whittier was at a rate of 8.0 percent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Government
[edit]City government consists of a seven-member council with a mayor and six council members.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The small city has three key departments: administration, public safety, and public works.
Services
[edit]Whittier Police Department is the main police force in the community. The department was founded in 1974 by Chief of Police Gordon Whittier and two officers, and retains the same level of permanent staff today, although in summer, temporary officers are hired when the town has many tourists. The office is in a one-room unit located on the first floor of the Begich Towers. The station has no place to hold or interrogate people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Whittier Fire Department is a volunteer fire and rescue service with mutual aid from neighboring departments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Transportation
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Harbor
[edit]There is a harbor and a deep-water port used by cruise ships and the Alaska Marine Highway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Airfield and seaplane dock
[edit]Whittier Airport (ICAO:PAWR) is an airfield with one aircraft runway designated 4/22 (formerly 3/21) with a gravel surface measuring Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are no other facilities, and the runway is not maintained in winter. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005, the airport had 700 aircraft operations, an average of 58 per month: 97 percent general aviation and 3 percent air taxi. At that time there were two single-engine aircraft based at this airport.<ref name="FAA">Template:FAA-airport, effective July 2, 2009.</ref> The runway was Template:Convert longer but was damaged by the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
The city also operates a seaplane dock.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Tunnel
[edit]Template:Main Known by locals as the Whittier tunnel or the Portage tunnel, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is a tunnel through Maynard Mountain. It links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage with Whittier and is the only land access to the town. It is part of the Portage Glacier Highway and at Template:Convert, is the second-longest highway tunnel, and longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America.<ref name="tunnel">Template:Cite web</ref>
Alaska Rail connection
[edit]Whittier is Alaska Rail ARRC's connection to the rail systems in Canada and the lower 48 states (by way of rail barge).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
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[edit]External links
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Template:Adjacent communities
Template:Chugach Census Area, Alaska
Template:Airports in Alaska