Cardiff in making iron and later steel, brought to the sea by packhorse from Merthyr Tydfil. This was first achieved by the construction of a long canal from Merthyr (510 feet above sea-level) to the Taff Estuary at Cardiff. Eventually the Taff Vale Railway replaced the canal barges and massive marshalling yards sprang up as new docks were developed in Cardiff – all prompted by the soaring worldwide demand for coal from the South Wales valleys. At its peak, Cardiff's port area, known as Tiger Bay, became the busiest port in the world and – for some time – the world's
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Encinitas, California develop when Boston developer J. Frank Cullen broke ground to build new homes. Frank Cullen's wife, a native of Cardiff, persuaded him to name the community "Cardiff", as well as many streets, such as "Birmingham", "Oxford", "Chesterfield" and "Manchester", despite heavy Spanish influence in the area. In 1986, "Cardiff" joined with the nearby communities of Leucadia, Olivenhain, and Encinitas to form the incorporated city of Encinitas. Cardiff is part of the city of Encinitas, which is governed by a five-member city council, elected at-large to staggered four-year terms at two-year intervals. In the California State Legislature, Cardiff is in ,