It is on the North Fork Burnt River, near the Blue Mountains and Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

[2] Founded as a logging town and platted in 1900,[3] Whitney was the primary station on the narrow gauge Sumpter Valley Railway.

It was rebuilt in 1939 by the Oregon Lumber Company to harvest some nearby newly purchased timber stands.

[5] The Nibley Lumber Company built a second sawmill in 1910–11 on the south side of town.

[3] The Antlers Guard Station, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is in the Whitney area.