On the morning of Tuesday 15 July 1856 at the 'Old Pit' in Cymmer, there occurred, as stated in the Mines Inspector's report, 'The most fearful and destructive explosion, resulting in a sacrifice of human life unparalleled in the history of Britain at that time'. At 6.00am 160 men and boys descended the shaft to begin their shift and were on their way to their working places when the explosion took place. The ferocity of the explosion led rescuers to believe that all lives below ground would be lost. However, some miners had only descended a short way into the pit and were able to make their way back to the shaft and safety. Rescuers took measures to clear the mine of afterdamp, and descended into the mine some three hours after the initial explosion took place. By that Tuesday evening some 112 bodies had been brought to the surface of the mine, another was recovered on the Wednesday, and one severe burns victim died on the Thursday.

At the pithead relatives and friends searched to identify victims, few of whom were not badly burnt, dying instead of suffocation caused by the afterdamp. Temporary mortuaries were set up in the Colliery's carpenters’ shop and also Cymmer Independent Chapel.

The scale of the disaster devastated the small communities of Cymmer and surrounding areas, with no household left untouched, and virtually all working age men and boys having perished. One household alone saw a father and his three sons aged 10, 13, and 16 all perish. Thirty graves were opened at Cymmer Independent Chapel's graveyard, and a mass internment of victims took place on Thursday 17 July. The first inquest into the disaster was held at the Ty Newydd Hotel, Porth on 16 July, which was subsequently adjourned until Monday 27 July at the Butchers Arms in Pontypridd. The inquest lasted 13 days and 29 witnesses were called. At the inquest it became clear that safety precautions at the colliery were woefully inadequate, and mines safety regulations were ignored. It was seen that the mine was poorly ventilated, and that pockets of gas were an everyday feature of life below ground, additionally the carrying of naked flames in the mine was commonplace. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter on the colliery manager, Jabez Thomas, and four senior officials at the mine. This verdict was overturned at the Glamorgan assizes at Swansea the following March, leading to a great deal of resentment among colliery workers.

On 11 April 1877, at about 4.00pm, the Tynewydd pit of the Troedyrhiw Colliery became inundated with water. At the time of the disaster the pit employed about 100 men, but when the accident occurred, only 14 men were underground. The accident was caused by a breakthrough from the mine's workings through to the abandoned and flooded workings of the old Cymmer Pit. Immediately rescue attempts were begun to find the 14 missing miners. Five survivors were found when a knocking was heard, and rescuers cutting through a 12 yards thick pillar of coal reached them the following morning. Unfortunately, the force of compressed air released when the first small hole was cut to the pocket where the men were, led to one of the survivors (William Morgan) being crushed to death. It was assumed that the remaining nine men had been drowned in the flooded mine. However, further knocking was heard coming from the stall of Thomas Morgan, which was below the level of the floodwater, leading rescuers to assume that some survivors had been trapped in an air pocket. An unusual rescue attempt using two divers from London was attempted, but the amount of debris in the mine made it impossible. As such, the only means of reaching the trapped miners was to cut through over 38 yards of coal. Working day and night it took the rescuers ten days to reach the five trapped men, during which time the plight of the miners captured the attention of the world's press with even Queen Victoria sending telegrams asking for the latest news. At 2.30pm on Friday 20 April the rescue team finally reached the five trapped men, who had been without food and had only the filthy flood waters to drink for ten days. The miners were all found to be suffering from 'the bends' due to rapid decompression and spent eighteen days in hospital, but otherwise made full recoveries from their ordeal. Four other miners missing after the flooding had drowned in the workings. Afterwards Queen Victoria awarded twenty-four first and second class Albert medals to the rescuers.

However, up until 1859 the only educational facilities in the Porth area, in the main, belonged to the Sunday Schools. Then in 1859, the National Society opened the Cymmer National School for the purposes of, 'inculcating Church of England doctrines in addition to the usual secular subjects'. Soon after a 'British School' was opened at Porth for those whose parents objected to Church of England doctrines. This was held for many years at Bethlehem Chapel, eventually becoming Porth Boys School. Changes in the law meant that attendance at school became compulsory and School Boards came into existence in order to raise money from local rates and supply school accommodation. Thus, in the late 1870s, Cymmer National School was transferred to the Llantrisant School Board, and Porth British School to that of Llanwonno. However, the rapid growth of the area meant that more new schools were needed, thus a new school was built at Cymmer and opened in 1881. Eventually in the 1890s, all schools in the Porth area came under the newly formed Ystradyfodwg School Board. The old National School at Cymmer became a Pupil Teachers Centre for the training of aspiring student teachers in 1893, operating on a part time basis.

This itself was incorporated into the new secondary school buildings. Following the Welsh Intermediate Schools Act of 1889, the Rhondda Intermediate School was built at Porth, where both boys and girls received advanced education 'fitting them to take degree courses at any university'. This was built on three acres of land above Mount Pleasant given free by Colonel Picton Turberville and was opened on 22 September 1896, later evolving into Porth County School. In 1913 the Girls’ County School was opened. Later, the School Board established a Higher Elementary School at Mount Pleasant, which was raised to the status of a Secondary School in the late 1920s. The Higher Grade schools were limited in function, being seen as providing for the son of the miner vocationally oriented training. However, the Intermediate School was expected to cater for the fee-paying middle-class minority as well as those gifted enough to receive scholarships, and had a more varied classically-based syllabus. Also, within Porth were two private schools that flourished for a number of years in the early twentieth century, the Cambrian Mining School and the Commercial School, both based in Cemetery Road. Finally, in the Tynycymmer Hall, The South Wales Bible Institute was set up, where men and women were trained 'in Bible knowledge...for all kinds of Christian work at home and abroad'.

Religion in general and non-conformity in particular is synonymous with the Rhondda, and the religious and social importance of 'the chapel' cannot be overstated. The development of the villages of the Rhondda followed a familiar pattern upon the opening of a local mine, and the influx of workers to an area. Invariably the religious needs of this burgeoning community were one of the first to be met. Thus, in Porth at the end of the nineteenth century, the residents had a large number of options in terms of sects and places of worship, some of which are detailed below:

The Primitive Methodists
Records show that Porth was 'missioned' by the Aberdare Primitive Methodist circuit in 1867 and in 1868 a Sunday School was formed with the 'infant church' then assembling at 9 Mary Street. By 1870, the Porth Church had a membership of 15 and was part of the Pontypridd circuit. By 1877 Porth became a separate 'station' with the Rev C.T. Harris as its first superintendent, and a chapel was erected in 1879.

The English Congregationalists
The history of the English Congregationalists at Porth dates back to 1881, when services were held at the 'Old Chapel' Cymmer. In 1882, the Church was incorporated, and in 1883, a Vestry was built at Pontypridd Road where worship was carried out for some years. In 1885, a new chapel was built, with a large hall and classrooms added later, and in 1912, the chapel was extended and a pipe organ installed.

The Welsh Wesleyans
The early 1880s witnessed a depression in the slate industry in North Wales, and the lead mining industry in Cardiganshire, resulting in a number of workers from these areas migrating towards the industrial areas of South Wales. As there was no established Wesleyan Church at Porth for them to worship at, permission was sought to erect a vestry here. This was erected in 1882, but with the continued influx of population a larger building was needed to accommodate worshippers, thus 'Ebenezer' was erected in 1903 at a cost of £2,000.

The Welsh Baptists
The beginnings of the cause at Salem can be traced back to 1852, when the Rev W. Lewis from Zoar Ffrwdamos preached to the residents of Porth. The few Baptists were at that time members of Zoar, later associating themselves with Carmel (renamed Tabernacle) Pontypridd. However, in 1853, 22 members of Carmel were released to form a branch church at Porth, the members meeting in a house at 'America Fach'. In 1855, the first chapel was formally opened and the church incorporated, this was subsequently replaced by a larger building, opened in 1879. In the latter years of the nineteenth century, the Baptist cause flourished in Porth leading to new chapels being built at Ainon, Ynyshir, Pisgah, Cymmer, and Seion, Birchgrove Porth.

The Tabernacle, Porth - English Baptist
In 1872, the few English Baptists at Porth attended Wesleyan services, the language barrier making it impossible for them to join the Welsh Baptist services. By 1874, with the increase in their numbers they were able to form their own English Baptist Church that met at the Llanwonno Board schoolroom. A vestry was built later in Hannah Street and formally opened in July 1875, a new chapel later being opened in 1877. In the 1890s new churches were inaugurated at Bethany, Ynyshir, and Penuel, Trehafod. The chapel was enlarged, and a new wing added in 1903 at a cost of £1,800.

The Welsh Congregationalists
The Welsh Congregational Church at Cymmer was founded in the year 1738, and can therefore claim to be the parent church of Nonconformity in the Rhondda. In 1740, there was an enrolled membership of 63, and in 1743, the old Cymmer Chapel was erected. This was rebuilt on its current site in 1834, with branch churches erected at Ynyshir and Porth in 1879. In 1855, Cymmer Chapel was extended with space for a thousand worshippers. Nine branches were formed from Cymmer Church at Castellau, Dinas, Gilfach, Porth, Sardis in Pontypridd, Tonyrefail, Saron in Williamstown, Bethel in Hafod, and Saron in Ynyshir.

Pugh Memorial Church
The Pugh Memorial Church belonged to a section of the Welsh Presbyterians known as The Forward Movement, founded in 1891 by the Revs Dr John Pugh and Seth Joshua. A number of members were released from the mother church at Bethlehem, Pontypridd Road, in 1892 to inaugurate the cause and met at Wilke's Hall on the corner of Cymmer Road. Dr Pugh sent the first pastor to the church in 1893. A permanent site for the church was acquired and a hall built to cater for 700 people near 'The Old Pit' in Pontypridd Road. During its erection the Church worshipped at the Old Town Hall. Subsequently in 1908, a new building was erected and opened, and officially named 'The Pugh Memorial Church'.

The English Wesleyan Church
The original building appears to have been opened in 1867, the certificate of its registration as a place of worship bearing that date. It was further enlarged in 1880 with land being acquired from Messrs Idris Williams and others.

The Church in Wales
Originally, Cymmer was in the Parish of Llantrisant and Porth in the Parish of Llanwonno. When the National Schools were built at Cymmer in 1857 the Rev Morgan, the Vicar of Llantrisant, began to hold services in the schoolroom. This served as a place of worship for the districts of Ynyshir, Dinas, and Trehafod as well as Cymmer and Porth. In 1874, a committee was founded to look into building a Church at Cymmer, however a number of prospective sites had to be abandoned leading to considerable delay in the church's building. However, in 1886 the Rev Moses Lewis, the then vicar of Llanwonno, succeeded in having built and consecrated St Paul's Church at Porth. Later, in 1887, the difficulties involved in the site for a church in Cymmer were finally solved. A piece of land on the Bedw Estate was gifted to the Church, and St John's Church was built and consecrated in 1889. In 1894, Cymmer and Porth were made a separate parish with the Rev William Thomas appointed as its first incumbent.

In 1888, at the age of twenty-four, William Evans had paid back, with profits, Alderman Thomas' investment, and was in business for himself for the first time. By 1895, he had expanded, owning four grocery stores and had been joined in the enterprise by his brother Frank. It was when, from his factory in Porth, under the name of Welsh Hill Mineral Waters, he began to manufacture his hop bitters, ginger beer and lemonade, his fortune and fame really took off. These proved so popular that William Evans was forced to open factories all over South Wales to cater for the demand. In the early 1920s, the brand was changed to Corona, and the business saw an expansion that saw Corona pop 'exported' all over Britain. Eventually, 87 factories and depots were opened throughout England and Wales, including one in Willesden, London in 1934. After William’s death in 1934, his brother Frank continued this expansion opening up a number of overseas markets. After periods of being owned by both Beechams and Britvic, the company finally closed the doors of its Porth factory for the last time in September 1987. The legacy of William Evans is still to be seen today in Porth, chiefly in Bronwydd Park, and also the Public Library, both of which he gave to the people of Porth.