Strömfors Ironworks

The Strömfors Ironworks in Ruotsinpyhtää near the south coast of Finland was founded in the 1690s and initially produced ingots from Swedish pig iron. Later the plant was equipped with a blast furnace. When the ironmaster and ironworks owner Henrik Johan af Forselles died in 1790, his young widow Virginia af Forselles, mother of two small children, took over the ironworks. For more than 30 years she ran and developed the ironworks and the ironworks village with a firm hand and sometimes questionable methods, earning her the nickname 'Her Grace'. In addition to the ironworks, the sawmill and the mill, there was also a brewery, a distillery, a pub and a brickworks. The af Forselles family owned the ironworks for 132 years until it was sold to the industrial entrepreneur Antti Ahlström in 1886. After 250 years, the ironworks ceased operations in 1950.

Today Strömfors Ironworks is considered one of Finland's best preserved ironworks villages. Among the surviving buildings is the brick building of a water-powered forge dating from 1871, which used charcoal for its fresh fire operation. It was in use until 1950. Since 1960, it has housed a museum where visitors can learn how historic ironworks were run, how the forge worked and what tools were used to make iron objects such as nails and tools. The neighbouring sawmill, built in1887, is also used as a museum. The church in the ironworks settlement dates from to the early 1770s and there are still many workers' houses along the riverbank, the oldest of which dates from to the 18th century.