Inside the TikTok-famous town where everyone lives in one building

TikTok’s latest obsession is a town where everyone lives in the same building. Well, almost everyone.

The small, coastal town of Whittier, Alaska has almost all of its necessities — the post office, the grocery store, a church, a police station and more — all under one roof. And that’s not including the dozens of apartments upstairs.

In reality, not everyone in Whittier lives in its main building, but, according to USA Today, most people do. Whittier has just over 300 residents and that single, 14-story building houses around 85 percent of them.

The town has been a point of intrigue for years, but it’s recently gone viral on TikTok thanks to user Jenessa Lorenz. The 18-year-old — whose TikTok bio aptly states, “I live in one of the strangest towns” — shared a video about Whittier that has drawn more than 15 million views.

@messy.nessy
##stitch with @livvontheedge
♬ original sound – jenessa

Lorenz’s Stitch video is a response to user Olivia Snake, who shared a more general clip about the town. In her own post, Lorenz showed the view from her window and then explained just how many of Whittier’s amenities exist under one roof.

“In this building, there’s a post office, a church, a store and the building office,” she said. “In the basement of this building we have a tunnel that runs from this building to the school across the street.”

In an interview with USA Today, Lorenz said her family has lived in Whittier for the past seven years. She added that she hopes her viral video will help promote tourism to the tiny town.

If TikTok’s reactions to the clip are any indication, it’s clear there’s some interest. Commenters replied to Lorenz’s video with plenty of flabbergasted reactions — and of course, lots of questions.

“How do you get there in the first place?” one user asked.

“Do you ever go outside?” another added.

“Please show us more,” another wrote.

Lorenz tried her best to respond to those questions in a series of follow-up clips. In one, she explains the town’s government system. In another, she gave a brief history of Whittier.

She also shared a thorough tour of the building — showing off the hallways, the lobby, the grocery store and a view from outside.