Llanharan thrived during the British Industrial Revolution, with several tin and coal mines in the location providing employment to the town's residents.

Hoare Jenkins was a High Sheriff of Glamorgan and he was involved in the suppression of the Merthyr Rising of 1831, and is recorded as stating he found the execution of Dic Penderyn as the most difficult of his civic duties.

Around 1800 some major improvements were made to the house with the addition of a three-storey circular stair hall which includes a dramatic geometrical staircase.

[6] Llanharan Town square consists of several historical stone buildings situated by the local river the Ewenny Fach.

Llanharan town square is dominated by a public house called The High Corner which dates back to roughly 1700.

Prior to the British Industrial Revolution, Llanharan was a small agricultural village, and this was reflected in the 1851 census where a population of 330 people living in 62 buildings was recorded.

In 1850 the South Wales Railway had opened a station in Llanharan making it a strategic location for surrounding industries.

With the discovery of coal an attempt to sink two mine shafts began between 1870 and 1873, but the work was eventually abandoned as the pit was too wet and inclined.

[9] From 1900 until the Powell Duffryn's Llanharn colliery closed in 1962, the area westward along the Bridgend Road became the commercial heart of a relatively flourishing mining village that survived even the depression years.

Local amenities have also closed over the years including Llanharan's cinema, railway station (which reopened in 2007) and the library.

Llanharan RFC play in black shirts and shorts with three light blue horizontal hoops across the chest.

It is thought that the breed of dog, the Welsh Springer Spaniel, either found its origins or was historically successfully bred in Llanharan.