By the end of the 1840s, the first coal pits were sunk and Cwmaman began to transform into a thriving industrial settlement.

[citation needed] The village is home to the war poet Alun Lewis, and a plaque in Llanwonno Road marks the house where he lived.

[citation needed] Cwmaman Public Hall & Institute is a community-owned enterprise consisting of a concert room, theatre / cinema and fitness suite St. Joseph's Church was renovated in 2007.

This work included the installation of solar panels on one side of its roof with the aim to sell back energy to the National Grid.

Seion, a Welsh Baptist chapel, remained an active place of worship until its closure for financial reasons in 2013.

The third Welsh language chapel in the village was Soar, a Calvinistic Methodist church which closed in the late 1980s and was later demolished.

A range of sculptors have contributed to projects in the village, including Robert Koenig, Dai Edwards, Tom Harvey, Godfrey Phillips, Paul Clarke, Dave Lloyd, Dominic Claire and Peter Boyd.