Whittier

Sister cities

• Whittier

History

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. 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. 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. 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. 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 , pipeline to Anchorage in Whittier. On March…

Geography

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 southeast of Anchorage.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  627
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  611
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  507
• Short-billed Gull

  Larus brachyrhynchus Richardson, 1831 · Aves
  395
• Black-legged Kittiwake

  Rissa tridactyla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  386
• Glaucous-winged Gull

  Larus glaucescens J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  363
• Orange-crowned Warbler

  Leiothlypis celata (Say, 1822) · Aves
  349
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  324

Largest nearby schools

• Whittier Community School
  Other · Whittier · 48 students · 12:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2026-06-29
  4 km SSE of Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
• M 2.6 — 2026-06-29
  4 km S of Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
• M 2.5 — 2026-06-27
  55 km NW of Tatitlek, Alaska
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-27
  27 km WNW of Hope, Alaska
• M 2.7 — 2026-06-17
  30 km NNW of Cooper Landing, Alaska
• M 3.1 — 2026-05-26
  63 km NW of Tatitlek, Alaska