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As President of Levitt & Sons , the real-estate development company founded by his father Abraham Levitt near the start of the Great Depression, William Levitt oversaw all aspects of the company but design of the homes they built. Design duties were handled by William's brother Alfred.
Prior to World War II, Levitt & Sons built mostly upscale housing in an around Long Island, New York. After returning from the war, during which he served in the Navy as a lieutenant, William Levitt saw a need for affordable housing for the returning veterans.
Levitt & Sons chose an area near Hempstead, Long Island as the site for their first major building project after the war. This would come to be called Levittown, New York. Levitt's innovation in creating this planned community was to build the houses in the manner of an assembly line. In normal assembly lines, the workers stay stationary and the product moves down the line. In Levitt's home-building assembly line, the product (houses) obviously could not move.
Groups of workers would descend on a new, empty street. The slab laying group would go down the street laying concrete slabs for house after house, 60 feet apart. Other construction groups would work in the same manner, adding their part to the house lot by lot. The result was high-quality, nearly identical houses that were built at a fraction of what would have normally been the cost.
Residents started moving into Levittown, New York in 1947. Houses sold for under $8000, a low price even by 1947 standards. Both the houses and the residents would come to be known as Levittowners. Levittown, New York eventually grew to 17,000 houses, although William Levitt's inital contribution was 6,000 houses.
Levitt went on to plan and build an 18,000 home Levittown in Bucks County, PennsylvaniaBucks County is a county located in the U. State of Pennsylvania. As of 2000, the population is 597,635. Its county seat is Doylestown 6. This county is part of the Delaware Valley area. Geography According to the U. Census Bureau, the county has a total, which saw its first residents in 1952. A third Levittown of 12,000 houses is located in southwestern New JerseyNew Jersey is a state of the United States of America and has the U. postal abbreviation of NJ . The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The USS New Jersey one of the most decorated vessels in the United States Navy, was name, although it has since reverted to its former name of Willingboro Township, New JerseyWillingboro Township is a township located in Burlington County, New Jersey. As of the 2000 census, the township had a total population of 33,008. History Willingboro was one of the original nine divisions in the 1688 organization of Burlington County, We to avoid confusion with the neighboring Levittown community in Bucks County, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one of four states of the United States of America that is called a commonwealth. It has given its name to the Pennsylvanian time period in geology. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State. Although Swed.
During the late 1950s, Levitt and Sons also developed the commmuity known as "Belair at Bowie," in Bowie, MarylandBowie is a city located in Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 50,269. History Founded in 1870, and incorporated as a town in 1916, Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipal. In 1957Events January January 2 San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge. January 3 Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch January 4 After 69 years the last issue of Colliers magazine is published January 5 Russell Endean becomes t they acquired the historic Belair Estate , home of Maryland's colonial Governor Samuel Ogle and his son, state Governor Benjamin Ogle . In 1959Events January-February January 1 Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin. January 1 Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance January 2 CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Bac the community was annexed by Bowie.
After a few smaller building projects, William Levitt sold Levitt & Sons to International Telephone & Telegraph in 1968 for a reported $60 million. He lost much of his wealth in less successful real estate projects in the 1970s and 1980s.