1951-52 Northside School; Mr. Jack Lenz’ 4th grade class

Click on photo to enlarge


Front: Sandy Adams

First row: x, Carol Klass, Bob Bond

Others: Bobby O'Brian, MaryAnn Scala, Linda Kenley, Carole Arnesen, Joe Guidice, George Fox, Betty Barger, David Ruder, Marcia Feinberg, Carol Howell, John Smiros, Billy Jack, Bob Smith, Margaret O'Neil, Billy Goldman, Danny LaPadula.

A HISTORY LESSON

In the earliest years of Levittown, the school population exploded and there were not enough classrooms while at the same time there was a shortage of teachers. Numerous substitute teacher were used to fill the void. This photo is from the 1951-52 school year.

According to Lynne Matarrese in "The History of Levittown, New York", "By the fall of 1951, 1,200 kindergarteners were still on triple session and grades one through seven were on double session. In 1951, Northside School was erected and Summit Lane quickly followed, opening in 1952. The first high school, Levittown Memorial, was built on Abbey Lane and opened in 1953."

As a result, the children in this photo were in a sparkling new building. Many had changed schools two or three times before Northside was opened. Some graduated from Division Avenue High School in 1960. They finally had stability and after elementary school, that quality continued because they attended Division Avenue for both junior high and high school if their families remained in Levittown. Many families moved away.

Amazingly, this photo is almost 60-years old. Therefore, so is Northside School.
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Thank you to Sandy Adams for sharing this photo from her collection of memories.

In the beginning Levittown was called Island Trees; houses were rented, not sold and only Caucasians were permitted to be residents

click on photo to enlarge

Levitt and Sons built 6,000 Cape Cod homes between 1947 and 1948. Each had four and a half rooms with an unfinished attic on a radiant heated slab. They were 750 square feet.

On October 1, 1947, the first 300 families moved into their rental units. Houses were not for sale in the beginning, but were rented for $65 per month on a one-year contract with an option to buy at the end of the contract. The purchase price was $7,500.

The Cape Cod leases came with a list of restrictions forbidding such items as fences, and hanging laundry on weekends or holidays. In 1949, Levitt and Sons removed the Caucasian-only clause from their contracts, which is a story for another blog post.

Several real estate brokers established businesses in the Levittown area when resales from original owners became available. Among the first were John W. Pergola, Ben Kasper, Corriston, and Bill Bond who had two children in the class of 1960, Barbara and Bob. These brokers sold and leased homes.

A source of Cape Cods for brokers were the families that started out in Capes but wanted to move to the newer, 50-square foot larger ranches, which were considered to be more modern.

The area that we know as Levittown was originally called Island Trees. On December 31, 1947, William Levitt announced that he was changing the name to Levittown. The change became official on the first day of 1948. The vast majority of residents were opposed.

That's your Levittown history lesson for today.
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Source: The History of Levittown, New York by Lynne Matarrese, 1997