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South Whittier, California

47 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Whittier census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90602. It stands on Savage Creek. The Survey maps it on the Whittier quadrangle. 56,415 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 177 feet above sea level.

South Whittier within Los Angeles County

Then and now

1896 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of South Whittier, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of South Whittier, surveyed 1896

Compare 1896 against another survey:

On record in South Whittier

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 2 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

South Whittier fell from 57,156 to 56,415 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201057,156
202056,415-741 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 47 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

326 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 326 fires within 5 miles of South Whittier between 2005 and 2020, burning about 227 acres in total. None started naturally. 33 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined210
Arson/incendiarism33
Equipment and vehicle use29
Smoking29
Misuse of fire by a minor18
Debris and open burning5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2005Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
30 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Los Angeles County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of South Whittier: 6 past producers, 3 prospects, 2 producers, 1 occurrence. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
El Monte PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
J. A. Houlihan PropertySand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect
Murphy RanchSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Murphy RanchSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Atlas Sewer Pipe CoClayProspectSedimentary
Atlas Sewer Pipe Co. PitClayPast Producer
Gladding Mcbean & Co. - Pico PitClayPast Producer
Gladding Mcbean - Pico PitClayProspectSedimentary
Pacific Clay Products CoClayPast ProducerSedimentary
Pacific Clay Products Co. East PitClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Los Angeles County

Storms near this place

1 since 2022

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names South Whittier in 1 storm report in 2022: 1 lightning. The reports record 1 death. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2022LightningSouth Whittier1 killedIn the community of Pico Rivera, a woman was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning.

Every storm recorded in Los Angeles County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Evergreen (historical)0.6 miles47
Valla1.0 miles47
East Whittier1.3 miles47
Whittier1.3 miles47
Los Nietos Junction1.5 miles47
Los Nietos1.6 miles47
Colima1.9 miles47
Friendly Hills2.1 miles47

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on South WhittierAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q531275The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1661484. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.