A simple slab of concrete helped reshape the American Dream, and its origins trace back to Bucks County, writes staff for PhillyBurbs.

After World War II, millions of veterans came home to a country without enough housing. Levittown planner and builder Bill Levitt had a solution, and it started from the ground up.

Rather than digging basements the traditional way, Levitt & Sons poured concrete slabs directly onto the earth, dramatically cutting build times. The method created an affordable path to homeownership for blue-collar and middle-class families who might otherwise have been priced out.

Levitt & Sons launched the process on Long Island in 1947, and by 1951 the operation had moved to Bucks County. There, the assembly-line approach hit its stride: at peak production, crews were raising as many as 40 houses a day.

The Levittown blueprint proved too successful to stay local. Versions of the same concept were replicated in Willingboro, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and Maryland.

Decades later, the slab foundation Levitt championed has become the industry standard. According to a 2021 survey, 67% of newly built homes in the United States now sit on concrete slabs.

What Levitt & Sons started in Bucks County didn’t stay in Bucks County. It went on to define how America builds.

Learn more about how Levitt & Sons’ construction methods shaped homeownership in Bucks County and beyond in PhillyBurbs.

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