Whittier Earthquake

It was early morning in 1987 when suddenly Whittier was hit with a an earthquake of a magnitude of 5.9.  This occurred on Oct. 1, 1987.  Whittier was in great shock, many homes were destroyed.  The epicenter was in Whittier Narrows.  The bad thing was that only a couple of days later there was another earthquake that hit Whittier.  The magnitude of this earthquake was of 5.6.  Only a hand full of people died, but there were hundreds that were injured.  The damages went into the 9 digit mark.  The earthquake actually hit in Whittier Narrows, the North part of Whittier.  In Uptown Whittier, there where man businesses that were damaged.  Many people until this day remember that earthquake and are still scared of what happened during that first week of October 1987.

Neighborhoods in Whittier

I have lived in Whittier for 19 years.  I know that there is Uptown Whittier, where most of shopping centers and businesses are.  But that's it,  I did not know that there where more parts to Whittier.  Just North of Uptown Whittier is the neighborhood known as Central Park and Hadley-Greenleaf.  In this part, there is a lot of Spanish Colonial Revival homes.  This sector is in the Whittier Historic Neighborhood Association.  Going North towards the hills, there is Starlite Estates.  Much of this part contains high end scales houses.  As we can say where most of the wealthy people in Whittier live.  Surrounding Whittier College is known as College Hills, this part of Whittier is also known as a historic place.  To the East side is known as East Whittier.  Friendly Hills, Murphy Ranch, and Leffingwell Ranch is enclosed in East Whittier.  Whittier is truly a beautiful place to known better and relate to. 

WHITTIER HIGH SCHOOL

Whittier High School only started with 47 students in 1900.  As more school were opening around the area, the school became to be known as Whittier High School.  Only five years after there was another building added which is not the center for WHS.  The rapid influx of students led to the construction of a girls' gym, an administration building and an auditorium in 1923.  The Long Beach earthquake in 1933 made most of the buildings unsafe to teach.  Therefore classes where held in the basement or storage rooms in school.  Following the years construction began to expand, there was now a boys gym. science building, dressing room, and cafeteria.  The auditorium stood there, but was only recently reconstructed to put the library there.  In 1952, the student enrollment was over 3,500. It was at this time that the District opened a new high school called El Rancho. Growth continued and in 1953, California High School opened, followed by Santa Fe in 1955, Sierra in 1957, Pioneer in 1959, La Serna in 1961, and Monte Vista in 1964. 

WHS in its early days



Richard Nixon in 1933 was a student of Whittier High School.  Many of the buildings that are  in school are named after alumna's or members of the Cardinal community.  Several moves where recorded here like the blockbuster 1985 Back to the Future, and the 1989 Back to the Future II.  The cardinal is the school mascot since 1930.  I am proud to say that I am a Red and White Cardinal. 



NEW POLICE HEADQUARTERS

After almost two years of construction the new Police Headquarters right next to the city hall has been built.  The new building which is three stories high is replacing the old facility that was much smaller.  This new building has locker room and an exercise room on the first floor.  Also it has extra space in the locker were more stuff can be kept.  The second floor is dedicated to receiving phone calls. and it has more space which allows more people on the phone to take incoming emergency calls.  The third floor is design for evidence.  It has new storage for all the evidence and it also has new equipment for fingerprints and blood samples.

The new building also has a better jail system.  It has cameras in every jail and the cells are in the middle of the room which allow for a 360 look.  In every cell there is a toilet and sink, and a camera to keep an eye on the inmates.  Also the new police headquarter has separate enclosed interviewing rooms adjacent to the lobby.  This are for people that want to come and file a report.  The cost of the building is said to be $35 million dollars.  The building is 55,000 sq ft. Now that the building is being occupied the other police building that was used before will be renovated and used for storage purposes only.

Crepes and Grapes Cafe

Why go oversees to France to taste a good tasting and looking Crepe when there is a cafe on Greenleaf.  Crepes and Grapes Cafe has a variety of food and it taste delicious.  I had never tasted crepes before and I have heard that they taste delicious.  I went and I order one with vanilla sauce and I topped it with fresh Strawberry and Raspberry fruit.  Oh my!! it was sooo delicious.
  I was so happy that I decided to follow everyone word on how good the crepes were on this restaurant.  Apart from the crepes the food was magnificent.  What I truly was amazed was that this restaurant is not that spacious but it has a good ambient and a good French vibe.  I felt as if I flown all the way to France.  The architectural design is soft and speaks out.  One of my favorite things there was that you are able to see how the crepes are made, which made my day.  I absolutely loved how they picked up the flat crepe and turned it into a beautiful design.  An edible design.  For more info visit their website. A little of France in Whittier

Disturbia

For people not following thriller movies, this modest house is no typical home.  This house is the center of the thrill for the 2007 movie Disturbia.  Shia LaBeouf, Carrie Anne Moss, and Amanda Wash started in this intense thriller where a mysterious neighboor turns out to be a serial killer.  The other houses that came out in the movie are in the same street and a couple of street down this house.  The house is located on Painter and Camilla St.  If any body is interested in checking out the place just drive by, please do not disturb the neightboors. 

The Legendary Turnbull Canyon

Turnbull Canyon has been in the pages of many mystery spots.  The trail starts in in the city of Whittier and ends in Hacienda Heights.  There has been  myths about KKK meetings up in this 2-way road to do their rituals.  There has also been other reports of Witchcraft and other crazy and "scary" things going on over here.  One of the biggest myths is that as you are driving you car uphill, if you put the car on neutral that the car keeps on going up the hill.  So I took matters into my hands an decided to do this extravagant trick.  I took my Jeep Grand Cherokee up the mountain and I stopped, put the car in neutral and hoped to be pushed by an unwillingly force upward.  I was scared at first believing that the myth truly did exist.  To my disappointment the car did not move up, but it was sure moving down because of the gravity.  Again this was one of those legendary myths that will continue to persist since others will say otherwise.