A series of mine explosions from March 12-16, 1903, killed nine mine workers. Three menremain entombed in the mine. A second mine was sunk to the west, and mining operationsresumed. More than 2,000 people lived in Cardiff at its peak. Cardiff had a church, aschool, two banks, two grain elevators, a semi-pro baseball team, a bottling plant,railroad passenger service, a hotel, numerous saloons, and other businesses.Prosperity continued for Cardiff until the high quality coal ran out and the WabashRailroad, the mine's biggest customer, refused to buy Cardiff coal. The mine closed in1912.
A total of 18 men died in mine accidents in Cardiff.Almost as fast as the town developed, it disappeared. Houses and other buildings weredismantled or moved whole. Today the town of Cardiff is gone, yet remains a legallyincorporated village. Two large hills of waste from the mine are monuments to thepeople who lived, worked, and died here. Dozens of acres that had been homes, stores,yards, and streets have now gone back to farmland.
| HM Number | HMVUD |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Illinois: Illinois State Historical Society series |
| Tags | |
| Year Placed | 2007 |
| Placed By | Herscher Area Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Sunday, September 14th, 2014 at 8:30am PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 16T E 391781 N 4545407 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 41.05271667, -88.28776667 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 41° 3.163', W 88° 17.266' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 41° 3' 9.78" N, 88° 17' 15.96" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 815, 630 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 29000-29998 N 3400 E Rd, Dwight IL 60420, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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