Cardiff is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States. The zip code for the area is 21160. The community name is taken from the

Capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Geography

Cardiff is located directly on the Mason-Dixon line, or Maryland -

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

border. It borders the incorporated town of

Delta, Pennsylvania Delta is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and one of the southernmost communities in Pennsylvania. The population was 706 at the 2020 census. It is served by the South Eastern School District which provides a public education ...

. It connects to the village of Whiteford, and is a short distance away from the areas of

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

and Pylesville.

Commerce

All businesses are on Main Street, which runs from Whiteford to the Pennsylvania border, or Dooley Road, running from Main Street to Route 165. The town has a post office, several shops, garages, and churches, a fire hall, a general store, and a new supermarket.

History

Cardiff is located in a very slate-rich region, which created the town's early industries. Cardiff was formerly the mining center of Harford County. The mines and quarries have all but shut down now, and the town has become a farming hub. According to geologist Jeri Jones:

One cannot talk about the Delta area without including the Cardiff Marble Company, just south of Delta in Cardiff, Maryland. The site was famous for its own mineral resource, "Green Marble" or what geologists term a serpentinite. The greenish rock is a metamorphic rock consisting wholly of serpentine minerals commonly derived from the alteration of peridotite. In turn, peridotite is a coarse-grained igneous rock formed very deep inside the earth. The operation was originally a quarry being used for road construction, but in 1913, a blast exposed a piece of the serpentinite. The quarry sent the rock to Baltimore for polishing, after which it was determined that a new resource has been discovered. After changing their equipment to concentrate on the beautiful rock, rapid expansion of the quarry started. At the completion of the operation in the early 1970's, the shaft extended to a depth of over 300 feet with numerous tunnels at various levels. Huge blocks of the serpentinite were lifted out by horst and cable, similar to the slate operations, and removed to the saws in nearby buildings. The rock was used for decorative stone, lamp bases, table tops, fireplaces, and desk ornaments. The rock was used as decorative stone in the Empire State Building in New York City, the Department of Highways Building in Harrisburg, along with the bottom of the walls in City Hall in York, PA and in numerous federal buildings in Washington, D.C.

Formerly home of Slate Ridge Elementary School, shut down in the early 1980s, the building is now used for apartments. The town, a part of the Whiteford-Cardiff Historic District, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005. The town and historic district are notable for their strong

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

ethnic heritage, which is reflected in the name of the town as well as the local architecture, and the Welsh language choir of some renown based nearby.

References

External links

*, including photo dated 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust
Boundary Map of the Whiteford-Cardiff Historic District, Harford County
at Maryland Historical Trust
`Green Stone' of Cardiff still has admirers
at the Baltimore Sun {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Harford County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland Welsh-American culture in Maryland