Part of Whittier’s bizarreness stems from the fact that most of its inhabitants live in the same building, the 14-story Begich Towers. The Begich started life as the Hodge building in 1956 when it was constructed to house newly arrived military personnel living temporarily in a trailer park.
Abandoned by the military in 1960, it was subsequently purchased by the City of Whittier in 1972 and has since housed up to 150 people, along with a grocery store, post office and community center. An underground tunnel links it to the local elementary school.
You can wander into the main lobby where there’s a photo display tracking Whittier’s history.
