Since Seven Fields was formed 38 years ago, the borough's population has grown from 70 to 2,887 residents.

There was no grist mill in a creek, no general store, no dirt streets and no horse and buggies in the story of Seven Fields' early years.

Rather, a bitter dispute between an out-of-town developer and the Cranberry Township supervisors formed the borough in 1983.

According to the dozens of articles in the Butler Eagle archives on the unusual beginnings of the borough, developer Thomas J. Reilly of McKeesport began the construction of Canterbury Village on the 515 acres of former Speer and Schenk farms in an area of Cranberry Township known as Seven Fields because of the fields that made up almost the entire .7 square miles that is now the borough.

A Feb. 5, 1982, article detailed how the township supervisors voted to take legal action against Reilly if necessary to stop the development because the proper permits had not been issued for Canterbury Village and construction was ongoing.

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A dispute between a developer and Cranberry Township supervisors was the catalyst for Seven Fields eventual incorporation.butler eagle file photo