The Alaska Town Where Almost Everyone Lives in One Building

Whittier sits at the head of a fjord on Alaska's Prince William Sound, walled in by mountains and reachable by one road, one rail line, and the sea. The 2020 census counted 272 residents. Most of them live in Begich Towers, a fourteen-story concrete building finished by the US Army in 1953.

The tower was originally a garrison housing about a thousand soldiers staffing a classified Cold War logistics port. The Army left in 1960. The building was converted to civilian condos and later renamed for Nick Begich, an Alaska congressman whose plane went missing over the Chugach range in October 1972. About two-thirds of Whittier's residents live in the building today, alongside the post office, the police station, a general store, a laundromat, a small chapel, and the mayor's office. A short underground tunnel links it to the school.

The reason for the arrangement is weather. Whittier is one of the wettest, snowiest places in the country — roughly 200 inches of snow a year and near-constant winds off the sound. Moving between buildings in January is a commitment. Packing everything into one shared structure means residents can go whole winters without stepping outside.

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the only road in or out, is the longest combined rail-and-road tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles. It operates on a timed schedule, alternating traffic directions every half hour, and shuts down overnight. Miss the last slot and you sleep in your car at the portal.

Whittier's other notable building is the Buckner Building, a larger Army structure abandoned since 1966. Locals call Begich Towers the City Under One Roof. It is, almost literally, that.