On July 1, 1947, Levitt & Sons broke ground for Levittown on Long Island. “The building of every house was reduced to 26 steps, and sub-contractors were responsible for each step.” By July 1948 the firm was building 30 houses a day. The development grew to about 17,500 homes. William Levitt said: “The land was our factory.”
Then the template moved. Levittown, Pennsylvania, received its first residents in 1952. Willingboro, New Jersey, was built as a Levittown in 1958.