In the remote lands to the west of Prince William Sound in Alaska, USA, lies a peculiar town named Whittier.
Nestled among picturesque mountains, Whittier is unlike any town in the world. If you are picturing a small cluster of houses forming a bustling community, think again. This town is a single 14-story building called Begich Towers (BTI), home to about 200 residents. They share a roof with a lifestyle that is almost completely isolated from the outside world.
Writer Erin Sheehy and photographer Reed Young had the opportunity to visit Whittier and were surprised by what they found inside.
Upon first entering Begich Towers, Sheehy remarked that it reminded her of the high school she once attended. “There are bulletin boards lining the hallway. The concrete blocks look like chunks of coal, and they are all painted a light yellow,” Sheehy described.
The post office is near the building’s entrance, and the police station is at the end of the hallway. Sheehy noted, “It reminds me of the principal’s office.”
Accessibility Challenges
Reaching the remote town of Whittier is not easy. You can arrive by sea or through a more than 4 km (2.5 miles) long tunnel that passes through the mountains.
“It is still quite a difficult town to access,” Young said. “Moreover, at night, they completely close the tunnel.”
Close-up of Begich Towers.
Indeed, the tunnel is only open until 10:30 PM (local time). Vehicles can only travel in a single lane, one direction, and the tunnel switches directions every 30 minutes. Therefore, to enter or exit the town, residents must always plan their schedules around the tunnel’s opening and closing times.
The second obstacle is the weather. Winter winds blow at speeds of 130 km/h (approximately 81 mph). This is why residents inside Begich Towers have everything they need under one roof. The Begich Towers complex is specially designed and built to withstand the harsh weather conditions, with six months of rain and six months of freezing snow each year, along with wind speeds reaching hundreds of km/h.
The winter winds here reach 130 km/h.
“There is a laundromat, a small grocery store,” Sheehy said. “And there is a convenience store,” Young added. “There is a health clinic. It’s not a hospital, but they can treat minor ailments. There’s even a church in the basement.”
Thus, it is said that this building resembles a “mini-city,” complete with a hospital, post office, police station, grocery store, laundromat, swimming pool…
The people of Whittier can even wear flip-flops to work, as the offices are just a few steps or a few floors away from their homes. Parents do not need to drive their children to school, as the kids can simply take the elevator to school through an underground tunnel connected to Whittier Community School.
A Unique Lifestyle
Mrs. June Miller, a resident of Whittier, owns a bed-and-breakfast on the top two floors of the building.
“She takes pride in having the most beautifully furnished rental apartments in town,” Young said.
Sheehy recounted, “She equips all her rental rooms with binoculars. Most people in town, especially those in the harbor-facing apartments, seem to have binoculars. Many keep them handy to watch whales breach, mountain goats grazing, and similar sights. But June jokes with us that these are basically to check if your husband is at the bar.”
Mrs. June Miller (holding binoculars) has a bed-and-breakfast on the top two floors of Begich Towers, named June’s Whittier Condo Suites.
On the lower floor of the Kozy Korner grocery store, employee Gary Carr sits in front of an old computer screen.
“The store isn’t always busy,” Young said. “So, he spends a lot of time on that computer. And I remember Gary saying one of his obsessions is keeping up with the radio waves.”
Sheehy noted that residents like Gary Carr are fully aware of how interesting their town is to outsiders.
Gary Carr works at the Kozy Korner grocery store.
Erika Thompson, a teacher living in Begich Towers, stated that life in Whittier is quite normal.
“For me, it’s just home,” she said. “Everyone knows each other. It’s a community living under one roof. We have everything we need.”
Thompson teaches at the school located just behind the building, connected by an underground tunnel.
Erika has lived there for five years. She mentioned that everyone has a story about why they chose Whittier as their home.
“Some people love it because it fosters a real sense of community,” she said. “And some people enjoy it because it feels secluded.”
After their two-week trip, Young and Sheehy expressed that they gained a completely new perspective on this unique town.
“The scenery is magnificent, the vast sea and sky, and the towering mountains. People here wake up to that every day,” Young said.
