Ystrad is a former coal mining village which was once housed the most profitable collieries belonging to the Cory brothers.

[citation needed] Ystrad is long and narrow, a main road where most amenities can be found, and a series of smaller residential streets lined with the terraces associated with the area.

The majority of housing stock is the classic South Wales valleys terrace with infills of new build.

[citation needed] The Rhondda Fawr River runs through the village, separating it from Gelli on the southern bank.

It is a short form of the village name Ystradyfodwg or Ystrad-dyfodwg ("vale of Tyfodwg", the name of a saint) which gave its name to an extensive parish, and from 1887 the name of a local government district, renamed as "Rhondda" in 1897.