Southern Californians: Visit Historic Whittier
Located near the geographic center of Southern California, Whittier is accessible to 19 million potential visitors. Founded in 1887, Ye Friendly Towne offers several historic places worth seeing.
In 1850, California became the thirty-first state. That same year, the last governor of Mexican California purchased the Rancho Paso de Bartolo. That former governor's name was Pio Pico. The Rancho included areas of the cities of Whittier and Pico Rivera, hence the origin of the name Pico. The ranch also included much of unincorporated Whittier. In 1853, Don Pico built his mansion and lived there until 1892.
In 1887, members of the Society of Friends, led by Aquila Pickering and Jonathan Bailey, purchased a separate ranch of 1,259 acres from John M. Thomas. This ranch was adjacent t...