Levittown Shop-a-Rama Shopping Center

Levittown, Pennsylvania - photos circa 1950s

Aerial views of the Levittown "Shop-a-Rama", a shopping center conceived and developed by famed urban planner/developer, William Levitt. Some Shop-a-Rama notes via this great online exhibit:

"By building a few large, centralized shopping centers, Levitt hoped to avoid the problems associated with haphazardly placed and often unsightly commercial strips. Levittown's main shopping center was not only large—at the time, the biggest shopping center east of the Mississippi—but also meticulously landscaped.

During the 1950s, Levittown's commercial hub was the Shop-a-Rama, a 60-acre pedestrian mall featuring over 65 retailers and a variety of special events. For many residents, the shopping center was Main Street. When completed in 1955, it was the largest pedestrian shopping mall east of the Mississippi. Levitt favored chain retailers such as Food Fair, Pomeroys, Woolworths, Kresges and Sears. The center’s parking lot could accommodate 6,000 cars."

History: 1953 - present (re-developed)
Developer: William Levitt
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2

(Study images courtesy The State Museum of Pennsylvania)