Whittier : 14 Buildings Designated for Historical Protection List

The City Council has voted 4 to 0 to designate 14 buildings as protected historic structures. The buildings include the First National Bank of Whittier, where former President Richard M. Nixon once had a law office, and the East Whittier Woman’s Improvement Club House, an 86-year-old structure that has hosted community meetings for generations after being built as a pump house. The council also designated the Standard Oil Building, an early Southern California office building, and the Whittier Boulevard Packing House, which became the center of a thriving local fruit-packing industry in the 1890s.

Among the 10 homes on the list is the Jonathan Bailey house, built before the founding of Whittier in 1887, and the Wardman House, the official residence for the president of Whittier College.

The structures will come under the protection of Whittier’s 1986 historic resources ordinance. The ordinance states that changes to the exterior of a historic structure must be approved by a city commission. The ordinance also delays the demolition process to enhance efforts to save historic buildings.