Cardiff was a company town located in Roane County, Tennessee, United States. 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. The town's development was thwarted, however, when the Panic of 1893 left its parent company in financial ruin.