When Audrey and Ralph Verdu moved from Pittsburgh to the forested and farming community of Cranberry Township in 1958, they discovered their housing plan was the only development between Wexford and Zelienople.

“We moved to a new development that was still being built, called Fernway,” said Audrey, 92.

The development of similar ranch homes without basements still exists today among the much more upscale residential developments that have taken over the bedroom community.

The Dover Company of Ohio began building the Fernway neighborhood in the mid-1950s, and the plan opened in 1957.

Verdu said Route 19 was a desolate, rarely used two-lane road at that time, which is almost unbelievable given the hundreds of stores and offices up and down the busy five-lane highway of today.

“We got our groceries in Wexford,” Audrey said.

Most, if not all of the farmers in Cranberry Township at that time looked down their noses on the Fernway development, so those who lived there did not enjoy the same societal status as longtime township residents, she said.

She remembers applying for a small loan at the former Mellon Bank in Wexford to buy a washer and dryer she had picked out at a store in Zelienople.

The banker in Wexford admitted she had been turned down for the credit because she was a resident of the Fernway development.

“There were lot of people (living in Fernway) who worked in the steel mills, and there were a lot of strikes and layoffs,” Verdu said.

The banker recommended she try for the loan at the Mellon Bank on McKnight Road, where she ended up getting the loan for the appliances.

But Verdu also recalled the camaraderie among the residents of Fernway, which, because it was the only housing development for miles, became its own little community.

“It was an isolated little community,” Verdu said. “I remember Halloween was coming, and we wanted a parade.”

Verdu and a committee of other Fernway residents asked Wexford and Zelienople businesses to donate small prizes and asked residents to turn their vehicles around in their driveways on the big night to illuminate the street for the Fernway Halloween Parade with their headlights.

The neighborhood’s parents even planned a Halloween party to be held after the parade in Fernway’s small multipurpose room.

“All the women made cookies and stuff,” Verdu said. “It was all volunteer.”

In the summer, Fernway residents enjoyed an annual picnic in a park that was across Rochester Road from the development.

“There were no houses on Rochester Road then,” Verdu said.

Those planning to attend were asked to bring lunch for themselves and one more person, in case someone didn’t have a lunch.

Children enjoyed games, complete with prizes for the winners.

“You got to know people because you sat at long tables together,” Verdu said.

To remain in the know between events, Verdu and a handful of her neighbors created a news sheet called “Keep Posted.”

“We established an organization to print a small newspaper,” Verdu said. “We got ads from businesses in Zelienople.”

The publication announced events, activities, voting precinct locations and general news.

“Things in the community you should know,” Verdu said.

Fernway also boasted two police officers, and Verdu recalled that a local Lutheran minister who was adept at technology wired the officers’ squad cars so they could radio one another.

A very small fire department with one truck on Dutilh Road is now an Enterprise vehicle rental.

The Fernway neighborhood worked together to raise funds to buy the fire truck and ambulance, and Verdu and some other residents took emergency medical technician classes in Kittanning.

She said the firetruck and ambulance were paid for through events such as bingo or a movie night in a resident’s home on Saturdays.

Children would pay a dime to watch a movie Ralph Verdu had picked up in Pittsburgh on his way home from work, and which he would return on Monday morning.

“The kids would sit on the floor to watch the movie,” Verdu said.

A dance teacher also helped fund the firetruck and ambulance by giving dance lessons in her home and donating a portion of the profits to the effort.

“It was fun,” Verdu said. “If you needed something or wanted something, you got your neighbors together and did it.”

Today, the Verdus live a relaxed life at a St. Barnabas retirement community.

But they often think of the little house in Fernway they bought for $10,400 at a tax sale.

“We sold it 10 years ago for more than 10 times what we paid for it,” Verdu said.

Ralph Verdu, the second oldest of the couple’s five children, recalls his days growing up in Fernway with abject delight.

“Across the street on Haine School Road was pine woods and forest, and we played up there,” Ralph said.

He recalled that two of his siblings were sickly and often in need of his parents’ attention.

“My brother and I were slightly unsupervised, and it was glorious,” Ralph recalled.

He said the two would be out playing all day, which was safe in the 1960s.

“We’d come home for supper,” Ralph said. “It was just delightful.”

He also recalled old Route 19, part of which is now Dutilh Road.

“We didn’t get a light on Route 19 until after I was out of high school, and that was in the mid-70s,” Ralph said. “It was at Freedom Road.”

He said he often thinks back fondly to his boyhood in the Fernway plan.

“I loved it,” he said.