This paper aims to trace M. Saleh Lahade's notion on the concept of rural development in South Sulawesi in the 1950s. Used historical method which includes several phases, namely: heuristics, criticism, interpretation and historiography. The result reveals the fact that M. Saleh Lahade's ideas were based on the physical environment and severe human settlement were damaged, the stagnation of the economy and the occurrence of stagnation in social life as a result of prolonged armed conflict. The concepts offered are based on falsafah and local wisdom that has long been developed, such as the spirit to act when finding something that is broken, the spirit of never giving up, the spirit of honesty, the spirit of independence (to maradeka), and the spirit of building harmony in people's lives. To develop his ideas M. Saleh Lahade used the concept of cluster units. Through this approach, rural service units are built in one mini cluster to create effectiveness and efficiency in public services. In addition, it also encourages the creation of a better physical and social environment, a more secure public health, and faster economic wheels.