| An aerial photograph of Levittown, New York, shortly after the mass-produced suburb was completed, showing what was once Long Island farmland. The picture shows homes bordered by Wolcott Road to the east (bottom left); Meadow Lane and Hempstead Bethpage Turnpike (bottom right); Division Avenue and Valley Road (top); Church Road and Cherry Tree Lane (top left). The curved streets were designed to limit speeding. After World War II, housing was in short supply. Virtually no new construction occurred during the war. Building materials were repurposed for the war effort, leading to severe shortages. Returning GIs, marrying and starting families, found creative solutions to housing, living with relatives or friends, temporary spaces, Quonset huts, garages, aor commercial venues. The GI Bill provided for low-interest mortgages, while corporations turned to mass-produced housing. Levittown, originally Island Trees, was constructed using prefabricated techniques from 1947 to 1951. Abraham Levitt (July 1, 1880 – August 20, 1962) and his sons William J. Levitt (February 11, 1907 – January 28, 1994) and Alfred S. Levitt (March 12, 1911 – February 9, 1966), as the construction firm Levitt and Sons, built 4 communities called “Levittowns” in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico. 30 ranch-style homes, each with 4 rooms and a bath, could be constructed daily. They cost 8,000 dollars, 400 dollars with GI Bill benefits. Levitt and Sons rented a 1,000 homes in 48 hours with the 1st announcement in 1947, so plans for 4,000 more homes, built on undeveloped farmland, were added. Eventually, 17,000 houses, in 2 styles, were erected by 1951. Levitt required his renters to sign a segregation clause. These housing discrimination contracts were struck down in 1948 as violating the 14th Amendment. Yet by 2017, Levittown was only 15 percent Hispanic or Latino, just over 7 percent Asian, and less than 2 percent African American. Many of the original Levittown homes have been remodeled and enlarged to the point where they are unrecognizable. A decade ago, there were perhaps 200 unaltered Levitts left, but only a handful remain today. The last unchanged Levittown home is located on Flax Lane. Today, the area in the photograph shows the homes expanded into 2 levels, with private pools, on tree-lined lanes. The community pools and shopping centers designed by Levitt and Sons are still there. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0936.jpg |
| Image Size | 2.63 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5609 x 4428 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Thomas Airviews |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 13, 1949 |
| Location | |
| City | Levittown |
| State or Province | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | Levittown Public Library |
| Record Number | PHO.354.1.1 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database