Whittier, Alaska

Whittier is a small town in Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula. Whittier has 182 people always living in it. The Whittier Glacier near Whittier was named for the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier in the year 1915.

During World War II the United States Army built a port and railroad near the glacier and named the port Whittier. The two big buildings that are very easy to notice in Whittier were built after World War II. The Hodge Building (now called Begich Towers) was built for housing soldiers and the Buckner Building, finish being built in 1953, was called the "city under one roof". It was once the biggest building in Alaska. The Begich Building is now a condominium (or houst that has many rooms that people live in), and almost all of the people that live in Whittier's live here.

The town was badly damaged by tsunamis (or very big waves) started by the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake; thirteen people died because of the waves that were 13 m (43 ft) tall.

Whittier is a popular port of for cruise ships, because it people can go to Anchorage and the inside of Alaska by both car and train. Whittier is also popular with visitors and fishermen.

Whittier is the wettest city in Alaska and the United States. The city receives at least 198 inches of rain a year.

Other websites

 * City of Whittier
 * Whittier Chamber of Commerce