Whittier is a city at the head of the Passage Canal in the U.S. state of Alaska, about 58 miles (93 km) southeast of Anchorage.

[8] The region occupied by Whittier was once part of the portage route of the Chugach people native to Prince William Sound.

Later, the passage was used by Russian and American explorers, and by prospecting miners during the Klondike Gold Rush.

The 14-story Hodge Building (renamed Begich Towers) was completed in 1957 and contains 150 two-and-three-bedroom apartments plus bachelor efficiency units.

[12] The other main structure in town, the Buckner Building, was completed in 1953, and was called the "city under one roof".

In 1962, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a petroleum products terminal, a pumping station and a 62-mile-long (100 km), 8-inch (200 mm) pipeline to Anchorage in Whittier.

[14][15] On March 27, 1964, Whittier suffered over $10 million worth of damage in what became known as the Good Friday earthquake.

When the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel opened to public access in 2000, it became the first highway to connect Whittier to Anchorage and inner Alaska—previously, the only ways to reach the town had been rail, boat and plane.

[17] After the tunnel expanded access to Whittier, it began to be visited by larger cruise lines.

[18] Whittier is also popular with tourists, photographers, outdoor enthusiasts, paddlers, hikers, sport fishermen, and hunters because of its abundance of wildlife and natural beauty.

The town is on the northeast shore of the Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Passage Canal, on the west side of Prince William Sound.

[9] Whittier is located at the northern tip of the world's northernmost temperate rainforest, the Tongass.

[33] Whittier Airport (ICAO:PAWR) is an airfield with one aircraft runway designated 4/22 (formerly 3/21) with a gravel surface measuring 1,480 by 60 feet (451 by 18 m).

It links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage with Whittier and is the only land access to the town.