A Small Town Inside A Building

Whittier, Alaska

In 1956, the US Army built this building as a barracks. The Army is gone now, but the town that grew up around the small base still lives there. Almost all of the residents of Whittier, Alaska live in it, which they call Begich Towers. Inside, you can find a school, a church, shops, a police station, and a laundromat.
Winters are brutal. Whittier usually gets about 250 inches of snow. Winds can reach speeds of 60 MPH. So people often stay indoors for most of the winter. Erin Sheehy and Reed Young of California Sunday Magazine visited this fascinating little community and photographed how the people of it have adapted to the harsh environment.