With many people emigrating from Wales to America as early as the 17th Century, you can find many places in the country with names deriving from Wales, from Bryn Mawr University to Caernarvon, Louisiana.
As the capital of Wales, Cardiff has a unique character that would be difficult to find elsewhere. That’s not the case for the city’s name, however.
In America alone, there are at least 13 Cardiffs which range from seaside communities to ghost towns.
We’ve taken a look at all the Cardiffs in America and how they compare to the Welsh capital.
Read more: Find more stories about Cardiff here
Cardiff by the Sea, California
Make sure you get your photo taken by one of the iconic Cardiff-by-the-Sea signs
(Image: Cardiff 101 Main Street)
If you travel 5,000 miles west of Cardiff, Wales, you’ll find Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.
The beachside community comprises less than 12,000 people and was founded in 1911 by J. Frank Cullen, a painter and developer from Boston, whose wife was originally from Cardiff in Wales – which is how the community got its name.
The seaside community is full of independent bars, restaurants, and cafes, and features some spectacular sunsets. Previously named one of the ten best surf spots in San Diego, Cardiff Reef is popular with surfers and body-boarders.
It’s known for its consistent waves which are a result of the offshore reefs and its popularity means that it’s sometimes known as “Crowdiff”.
We compiled a list of the top ten things you can do in Cardiff-by-the-Sea if you ever fancy making the pilgrimage.
Cardiff, Illinois
Images from the disappeared mining town of Cardiff in Illinois, in the US
(Image: Chicago Tafia Welsh Society)
The Cardiff in Illinois is a ghost town that was founded in 1899.
While it was a booming coal-mining town in its first few years, the closure of the mine in 1912 led to the community’s demise.
The town took its name from Cardiff in Wales, which was one of the richest coal mining areas in the world. The village was officially incorporated in 1900, and featured houses and a schoolhouse, with about 40 children attending.
By 1903, the village had 400 miners and a population of around 2,000.
The peak of the mine and Cardiff was in 1907 and 1908. But in 1910 the Wabash Railroad, which was the largest customer of Cardiff Coal Co., announced that it would no longer purchase Cardiff coal, as the quality had declined to where it no longer met the requirements of the railroad’s steam engines.
The profitability of the mine suffered dramatically and it became clear that the mine would eventually have to close, which it did in 1912. People left the town quickly and by 1920 the population was 152. In 1927, the telephone book listed two businesses and only three people with telephones.
Today, all that remains of Cardiff are a few remnants of pavements and the large slag hill of waste from the second mine and a smaller hill above the first mine. There are just a few houses and trailers in the area.
Cardiff, Maryland
Located directly on the Mason-Dixon line, Cardiff, Maryland, took its early industries from its location in a slate-rich region.
While its mines and quarries have shut down, the town is now a farming community.
The town is noted for its strong Welsh heritage, as reflected by its names, as well as the local architecture, and a Welsh language choir based nearby – which has even come on a tour to Wales.
Cardiff, New York
This hamlet in Onondaga County, which takes its name from Wales’ capital, is known for one of the most famous hoaxes in American history.
It was the site of a farm where the ‘Cardiff Giant’ was ‘discovered’ in October 1869. The ‘giant’ was purported to be a 10 foot tall “petrified man” uncovered in 1869, by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. “Stub” Newell.
The giant in question was the creation of a tobacconist called George Hull. An atheist, he decided to to create the giant after an argument at a Methodist revival meeting about Genesis 6:4, which states that there were giants who once lived on Earth.
He hired men to quarry out a 10 ft long block of gypsum and hired a stonecutter to carve it into the likeness of a man, swearing him to secrecy.
Both it and an unauthorised copy made by P. T. Barnum are still being displayed, and the original is currently on display at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Cardiff, Alabama
Located in Jefferson County, Cardiff, Alabama is a small town, the population of which was recorded at just 55 in the 2010 census.
The town was originally settled in the 1830s by the Crocker family.
According to historian Martha Mulkin, the area was developed by Isaac Price from Wales and James Williamson from Scotland as a coal mining endeavour in the 1880s as the Crocker family sold their interests in the area. It was later renamed Cardiff in honour of the Welsh city.
Price and Williamson wrote to friends and family in Wales to offer them jobs, and soon the town is said to have had several hundred families from across Europe.
A football, or soccer, team called the Cardiff Primrose Club was formed, winning the Alabama Football Association Cup in 1898.
Cardiff, Colorado
Cardiff, Colorado, was founded in 1887 by the Grand River Coal and Coke Company. A string of coke ovens located in the community of Cardiff four miles south of Glenwood Springs, served as an industrial hub for the Roaring Fork Valley for nearly two decades.
The construction of the Colorado Midland Railroad reached the Cardiff site in December 1887. It became a community of approximately 150 people, with most workers being employed by the railroad or working at the coke ovens.
However, with a decline in silver mining in the 1890s, there was a decrease in demand for coked coal, and the ovens closed in 1915.
Cardiff, Tennessee
This company town was established in the 1890s by investors who believed it would one day rival the Welsh city for mining.
While the land auction was successful, financial markets began to freeze following the Barings Bank collapse in London, and many of the Cardiff buyers began defaulting on their lot purchases, concerned about their own assets.
Cardiff Coal and Iron, the company incorporated to build the town, was unable to repay its debtors and was placed in receivership in June 1891, and was forced into bankruptcy in the wake of the financial panic of 1893. Within a few years, the town of Cardiff had been mostly abandoned.
There is little left of the town today.
Cardiff, Arkansas
Cardiff in Arkansas is located just outside of the town of Waldron. It is in Scott County.
You can also find locations called Cardiff in Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
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