The rule of Rosarno was greatly contested, due to its strategic importance in giving a hold over of the fertile Mesima River valley and was controlled by various feudal lords, including the Ruffo and the Pignatelli families.

Situated along the sea, San Ferdinando was a planned community to support a major public works project of the early 19th Century to transform the malaria-ridden Mesima valley into a commercial agricultural town.

Following the five major 1783 Calabrian earthquakes, the Mesima River Valley and the Rosarno plain were said to have sunk nearly a meter creating significant shifts in water flow and the creation of lakes and swamps.

The General was familiar with the local farmers, who were experts in the cultivation of hemp, cereals, flax and breeding of silkworms and proposed the development of an agricultural town that would employ the latest best practice in farming.

As financial and social prospects were proving positive in this new enterprise, successive years brought the families of:Zungri and Mumoli from Lampazone; Bagnato from Comerconi; and Rombolà from Brattirò.

The small one-story houses, which were organized around a courtyard, included a bedroom, kitchen, pantry and toilet and were made of volcanic stone sent by boat from the Aeolian Island of Lipari by Marquis, Don Francesco Barresi, father of General Nunziante.

Despite the influx of families from the surrounding villages, in 1842 Marchese Nunziante wanted to recruit more skilled manpower for the construction of more houses to grow the commercial enterprise of the town.

The following is a list of these men from the parish records and courts documents during those 20 years: Del Vecchio from Ioppolo; Contartese from Ricadi, Tambaro from Scafati; Naccarato from Cosenza; Pantano from Brivadi; Megna from Coccorino; Russo and Falcone from S. Maria Capua Vetere; Baglivo from Potenza; Bovolo from Torre del Greco; Zavaglia from Polistina; Porretti from Monteleone; and Faggiano, Ferraro, Pignatelli, and Cusano from various other parts of the kingdom.