Strömfors Ironworks

History

The name Ruotsinpyhtää translates as 'Swedish Pyhtää', as this was once the location of the border between Sweden and the Russian Empire. In the 1690s, Baron Johan Creutz founded the first hammer mill on a tributary of the Kymijoki River just a few kilometres from the coast, taking advantage of the rapids and using charcoal from the nearby forests to produce ingots from Swedish pig iron. The site has been known as Strömfors since 1744, combining the surnames of its new owners, Anders Nohrström and Jakob Forsell. However, it is actually a woman who dominates the records: Virginia af Forselles, who inherited the greatly expanded business after her husband's death in 1790. She headed the company for 47 years, navigating it through turbulent times and earning her the honorary title of 'Her Grace' from the locals. In 1808, she overcame the destruction of the ironworks village by Russian troops during the Napoleonic Wars, despite her request for tax relief due to the damage suffered being rejected. Just two years later, she built a drop hammer, faced trial in 1816 for illegal logging, and compensated for the decline in blacksmith production in the 1830s caused by staff shortages by hiring skilled workers from Sweden.

After 132 years at the helm of the af Forselles family, the site passed into the hands of Finnish manufacturer Antti Anders Ahlström in 1876. He particularly expanded the sawmill sector and made a fortune from lumber. In 1950, after more than 250 years of virtually unchanged technology, the sawmills ceased production. Three years earlier, the Finnish company A. Ahlström Oy had built a factory to manufacture plastic and electronic products. A notable feature of the site is that it is still inhabited today. Its historic buildings house Finland's first blacksmith museum, which was founded in the early 1960s.