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Marker placed at Cardiff 'ghost town'
By Tony Sapochetti
tsapochetti@pantagraph.com
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CARDIFF — A single home and small miner’s shack northeast of Campus are all that remains of the town of Cardiff.

The Illinois State Historical Society and the Herscher Area Historical Society will dedicate a state historical marker at Cardiff, 3400 East Road at 2900 North Road, at 2 p.m. Aug. 26. A reception follows at the historical society, located at Park Road and Second Street, Herscher.

Society treasurer Jim Ridings published a book in 2006 called “Cardiff: Ghost Town on the Prairie.”

“Cardiff was a coal mining town built in 1899, and in no time at all the town grew to over 2,500 people and (was) the third biggest town in Livingston County,” he said. “In 1912, the town basically vanished, and it was a good-sized town with a lot of stores and businesses.

“I spent two and a half years working on the book, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find enough material to produce a book because most of Cardiff is gone, but I always said if I did, then I would see if the state was interested in putting a historical marker in place,” Ridings said.

A series of explosions killed nine mine workers in March 1903, and other accidents killed nine more miners during the town’s short life. The mine closed in 1912 after its high-quality coal ran out and the Wabash Railroad, which was the mine’s biggest customer, refused to buy Cardiff coal.

Ridings said the town vanished as houses and other buildings were dismantled and families move away. Little was left after 1915, only 16 years after the town was built.

Lawrence Santini of Joliet is one of the few people who remember Cardiff, where he was born in 1911.

“I remember it being a thriving town with a lot of saloons before the mine shut down, then everyone just went away,” Santini said. “The first thing that comes to mind is my mother, who became a widow when I was four years old when my father died in a coal mine in southern Illinois. There she was, a widow who couldn’t speak English, with five kids.”

Santini, now 95, will be a guest at the dedication, along with fellow Cardiff native Mary McCabe, also 95.

Along with the state historical marker, a monument will have engraved bricks sold by the historical society as a fundraiser. A patio of granite blocks will list the names of 18 men who died in mining accidents.

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Reader comments on this story - 10 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Hey Old Feller wrote on Aug 26, 2007 9:05 AM:

" Thanks buddy, I appreciate it! (Another old guy) "

Old Feller wrote on Aug 25, 2007 5:40 PM:

" The settlement of White Oak was north of the intersection of 2100N and, my gazetteer doesn't show the exact road number but I'd guess it to be either 825 or 830E, also known as Sunset Lake Road. Go north and you'll come to a small cluster of houses toward the top of the hill. Look closely at the fence rows; the village streets ran adjacent to them. "

Hey Old Feller.... wrote on Aug 25, 2007 10:47 AM:

" Can you be a little more specific on the White Oak location for me??? Both 2100 and 2000 run east over towards White oak road or Ropp, I guess. Where is the former White oak commuity from thereabouts??? "

Old Feller wrote on Aug 25, 2007 9:05 AM:

" There are a few ghost towns here in McLean County too: Lytleville (near Heyworth, purportedly just a handful of votes away from being the state capital, schoolhouse now a residence), White Oak, (east of Carlock, street layout still discernable), Pleasant Hill (SE of Lexington, several streets and houses remain, not really a total ghost town but still a far cry from what it once was), Versailles and Bowling Green (north of Carlock just into Woodford Co.), and Wilkesborough (east of Danvers on Old Peoria Stagecoach Rd.). Most of these villages dried up and blew away when the railroads bypassed them before 1900. "

so wrote on Aug 25, 2007 12:02 AM:

" Is there anything in this "town" besides the house and miners shack? Like old buildings and whatnot? may be something worth checking out "

to: Jim wrote on Aug 24, 2007 6:30 PM:

" Thanks! "

Jim wrote on Aug 24, 2007 3:46 PM:

" Cardiff is in northeastern Livingston County, northeast of Campus. About 2 or 3 miles south of Route 17, between Dwight and Reddick, on 3400 E Road. "

Lindsay wrote on Aug 24, 2007 2:05 PM:

" I've been looking for the city of Potosi that was also an old mining town. It was also in Livingston County but there are very few records of it anyway. "

neat wrote on Aug 24, 2007 1:40 PM:

" i love old history "

Old Man wrote on Aug 24, 2007 1:19 PM:

" Good story! However I still would like to know exactly where the town was? "
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