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When the United States needed a remote and isolated area for a military base, Whittier, Alaska was found to be more than qualified. The surrounding area was desolate and difficult to access, which made it perfect for a bomb-proof complex that could survive an air attack. Decades later, people still live in Whittier... but the thing is, the whole town is located entirely within a single building.
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When the United States needed a remote and isolated area for a military base
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Whittier, Alaska was found to be more than qualified. The surrounding area was desolate and difficult to access
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which made it perfect for a bomb-proof complex that could survive an air attack
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Over the next few years, two of the town's only buildings were built
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the now abandoned Buckner Building and the Hodge Building, which was renamed Begich Towers
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This building has not only become the most important building in town
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It's essentially the entire town. So, today we're taking you inside Whittier, Alaska, the town where everyone lives in the same exact building
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Before it was the wildly interesting town where everyone lived in a single high-rise
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the town of Whittier remained undeveloped until World War II. They got their name from a glacier which sat in the waters that surround the town today
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And the Glacier got its name from John Greenleaf Whittier, a famous anti-slavery poet of the 19th century
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Whittier was an active abolitionist who wrote for many newspapers and magazines and was devoted to fixing social injustice wherever he saw it
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He was even the founder of the anti-slavery Liberty Party in 1839
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Whittier may seem like the perfect getaway for an introverted hermit. It's isolated, there are locks on the doors, and all your amenities are right there for you
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means that one should be able to keep to themselves with their head down and not get bugged by anyone
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However, Whittier is not only a community in the neighborly sense, but in a practical sense as well
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When we said it was isolated, we mean dark side of the moon isolated
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At Beggage Towers, it literally takes everyone working together to live comfortably and efficiently
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There are residents who man the tunnel or work on the local railroad, while others are employed by local businesses or various city departments
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Everybody has a role to play, and the city doesn't function unless everyone is doing their part
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From manning the EMT stations and saving lives, to cooking for neighbors when they're sick
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the town of Whittier is less a group of individual people and more a single living breathing organism metaphorically speaking
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When there's a town as isolated and unordinary as Whittier, getting in and out isn't going to be a piece of cake
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The town was chosen for a World War II U.S. military facility due to how remote it was from other surrounding villages
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In order to get resources in and out, a train tunnel was built and utilized before ultimately becoming a tunnel for normal cars
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The tunnel boasts only one traffic lane for roughly 2.5 miles, making it the second longest highway tunnel in North America
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If you're planning on hitting up the town anytime soon, be prepared to wait. Cars going in the same direction are only allowed through the tunnel in 30-minute intervals
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That means if you're unlucky enough to arrive when the other lane has dibs, you better hope you have some good games on your phone
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or you'll be staring at a red light until your turn is up. Long wait times aren't the only issue connected to having only one lane of entry or escape
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Arguably more disruptive is the fact that the Whittier Tunnel is not open around the clock
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Any attempts to access the tunnel between the hours of 11pm and 5.30am
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will be met with a big fat blocked notice, like in a video game when you haven't unlocked that area of the map yet
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And people who missed the cutoff in the past can sometimes be found sleeping in their cars
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overnight at the other end of the tunnel. However, EMTs are in luck. There's usually
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somebody there to let emergency vehicles through. While most people enjoy leaving their homes to go
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to work, stock up in supplies, or hang out with a neighbor across town, Whittier is a whole other
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story. Since basically everything you could ever ask for is provided under one roof, some residents
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haven't felt the need to step foot outside baggage towers. While some people love the towers
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because of how social it can be. Many others prefer it for how reclusive it can be
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and have no desire to chat it up with their fellow Bagetians. Days, weeks, or even years will pass
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before certain residents step foot outside and see the sky, even longer if there's something good on Netflix
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Believe it or not the town hosts its share of tourists despite its remote location Aside from the unique character and natural beauty of the surrounding area sometimes you just want to see a whole town housed in a gigantic building
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so you can pretend you're on the Death Star. To accommodate these guests, the top two floors of Begich Towers
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are actually a quaint bed and breakfast. Book a stay at June's Whittier Condo Suites
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where you are offered a variety of rooms and amenities. They're easily the swankiest digs in town
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and can we talk about the views? Obviously, Whittier doesn't have any roads or municipal buildings
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Because where would you put them? On the roof? Instead of street-level locations, all of the city's services are located on the first floor of baggage towers
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including a police department, a post office, a convenience store, a medical clinic, and a grocery store
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There's also a jet ski adventure store, because when you're in the Alaskan wilderness
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you need to stay focused on the bare necessities. And yes, being rad as hell is a necessity
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The local school is in a separate building behind Begage Towers. However, students have to enter through an underground tunnel
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which gives a whole new spin on walking five miles through the snow. When the residents of Begage Towers want to attend worship services
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they don't have to spelunk through a tunnel, but they do have to go down to the building's basement
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Twice weekly, the Whittier Christian Community Church offers mass and spiritual services
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without any of its parishioners having to step foot outside. As for the city's Samoan population, they can attend Malamalamafu, translated as New Light Church, which occupies the same space and provides Samoan language services
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If you're a fan of the time-honored tradition of people-watching, Whittier might be an ideal place to visit or even settle down
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Basically, everybody who lives on the harbor side of the building lives with a pair of binoculars within arm's reach at all times
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This makes sense, not because Whittier is a town of peeping toms, but because of the
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abundant wildlife and marine life which have taken up residence around Begich Towers. When
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you're peeping at them, they call it enjoying nature, and nobody calls the police. Across
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the street from Begich Towers lives Brenda Tolman a Whittier resident who keeps reindeer as pets She can be seen tending to them twice a day rain or shine snow or sleet Apparently they have escaped before as well forcing Tolman to strap on her boots and chase them down
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There were probably a lot of binoculars out that day. Living in Whittier is not all sunshines and rainbows
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Most of the time, it's either raining or snowing in Whittier, making it the single wettest city in the United States
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For around six months out of the year, the city is getting snow in the forecast every day
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totaling around 22 feet each year. That's 1,000 times the national average
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So, bring a scarf. Their only respite from the cold weather is the other six months of the year
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when it's essentially a constant rainstorm. Pair that with 60 miles per hour winds
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and you're looking at an average day of crummy weather in Whittier. Stormy days aren't much of an inconvenience for a town that never goes outside
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But natural disasters are a different story. The Good Friday earthquake was the biggest seismic event ever recorded in the United States
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It occurred on March 28, 1964, hitting Alaska on Good Friday. The earthquake triggered a 43-foot tsunami responsible for killing 13 Whittier residents
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and causing millions of dollars of damage to the town. To this day, it remains the second-largest seismic event in recorded history
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But Whittier and its residents are resilient. When the global COVID pandemic struck, you might expect a town where everyone lives under the same roof would be a hotspot for infection
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But by late March 2020, the city closed itself off to any outside visitors
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The only people allowed into Whittier during this time were residents, their caregivers, and employees of essential businesses
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The community did get hit by the virus in the summer of 2020, when two waterfront workers tested positive
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Eleven temporary workers were also infected, but all cases were contained. Then in August, a family of six who shared an apartment tested positive
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but isolated themselves inside, preventing anybody else in the building from contracting the virus
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After all, it's not like they weren't used to sheltering in place