Cardiff, Tennessee

Established in the early 1890s by New England investors, the town was to house workers and managers for a large-scale mining operation that sought to utilize the abundant iron ore and coal resources along nearby Walden Ridge.

The town was named for Cardiff, Wales, as its planners believed it would someday rival the Welsh city as a mining mecca.

An auction for the lots, held at Cardiff in April 1890, was attended by over 4,000 prospective buyers from around the country, and raised over $1 million.

[3] While the land auction in Cardiff had been successful, the company had demanded only one-third of the total payment for each sale upfront, with the rest to be paid at a later date.

Unable to repay its debtors, Cardiff Coal and Iron was placed in receivership in June 1891, and was forced into bankruptcy in the wake of the financial panic of 1893.