Here's why Levittown doesn't have basements, but does have bomb shelters and lots of lawns

Levittown turns 72 this year, a moment marked when John and Philomena Dougherty were the first residents to move into their Levittowner-style house on Stonybrook Drive in Tullytown.

Fun fact: That sentence, inevitably, will cause one or more people who read it to furiously dispute that the Doughertys were the first to move into Levittown, Pa., citing family lore that mom/dad/grandma/grandpa claimed they were the first, and the record should be corrected.

Could be true. At the Courier, we've heard all the no-we-were-the-first-ones-to-move-in stories. Still, it's a fact that builder William J. Levitt, officially recognized the Doughertys as the first.

"He sent me a dozen roses each year on the anniversary with a handwritten thank-you note," Mrs. Dougherty told a reporter in an interview years later.

If that isn't enough, reporters, photographers and newsreel cameras captured Mrs. Dougherty walking up the driveway of her nifty new home carrying a shade-less table lamp. The date was June 23, 1952, which is Levittown, Pa.'s (unofficial) birthday.

So, in this 72nd anniversary year, a few facts about the place, which remains loved by kids who still explore its creeks and greenbelts, and not-so-loved by it critics, who should really get over it. Unlike its early critics who said the place would blow away in the first big storm, Levittown — "the new city" — as Bill Levitt called it, is here to stay.

Bomb shelters, yep we got 'em

Levittown was born in the mid-20th century, when the great international struggle between Soviet-style state control/communism, or American-style self-governance/capitalism, would determine the future. The United States and the USSR had thousands of nuclear missiles and bombs ready to go as the Levitts built 17,311 houses on nearly nine square miles of Lower Bucks County farmland. The Cold War was a scary time. So frightening that some residents installed bomb shelters in their backyards. There was a bomb shelter sales office at the Levittown Shopping Center (which, by the way, had its name changed to "Shop-A-Rama" in 1962).

A few years ago, we set out to find Levittown bomb shelters, and did. But how many underground shelters there are is unknown. Even today, some residents remain secretive. But there are clues. If you see "partial basement" in a Levitt-built house real estate listing, it's likely a Cold War-era shelter. Why doesn't Levittown have basements? Read on.

Nope, no basements in Levittown

"We are receiving reports that basements throughout Levittown have been flooded." So reported Philadelphia TV news legend John Facenda (later to become the voice of NFL Films) in October 1954, as Hurricane Hazel pummeled Lower Bucks County. Facenda likely made Levittowners chuckle, since it was likely one of them who called in the fake news. Levittown houses have no basements, and why that is remains a source of fake news. "Water table is too high" and "Ground is too soft/clay/sandy" are among the most popular myths. The real reason was speed and cost.

At its height of construction, Levitt and Sons Inc., built 40 houses a day. Houses went up so fast that crews sometimes lost construction equipment in the maze of look-alike Levittowner Types I, II, III and IV, Ranchers, Big Ranchers, Jubilees and Jubilee Jrs. The pace of building and the need for low cost houses ($8,990 for a 1953 Rancher) left no time for digging foundations. Houses were built on concrete slabs with copper-piped radiant heat systems. Some Levittown residents retrofitted basements, though this is rare. One house, in the Goldenridge section, Bristol Township, was razed after a fire in the 1970s and the owner had a basement dug.

Ltown basements Why Levittown houses have no basements, and is it really that odd

Levitown: A cool city before it was cool

Part of the lexicon of the modern green movement is "cool city" which is a town that incorporates green spaces and shade trees to keep temps a bit cooler, reducing the use of air-conditioning and shrinking one's carbon footprint. Levittown was cool long before it was cool to be cool. Lawns surrounding every Levitt-built house weren't put there by happenstance.

The Levitt family, father Abraham, and sons Al and Bill, were from Brooklyn, and loathed the summer heat-trapping effects of concrete. Bill, a Navy Seabee during World War II, stationed in Hawaii, would ask battle-hardened GIs what they planned to do after the war. The answer was almost always the same: Just live in someplace that's green. Levittown was the answer, and its lawns provided the welcoming sweep of green. But that wasn't all. Working with the Carrier Co., the Levitts calculated that a quarter-acre of green grass had the same cooling capacity as two of Carrier's whole-house a/c units. Line the streets with shade trees and Levittown became a "cool city" long before it was cool to be one.

Levittown at 70 Time to remember: For Levittown's 70th anniversary, museum offers rare glimpse into town's storied past

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Levittown has no basements but a "cool city" long before it was cool