Haapavesi (former name Haapajärvi, Pyhäjoki Parish Chapel Parish
until 1863) is a Finnish city located along the Pyhäjoki River in
the province of Northern Ostrobothnia, in southern Oulu. The city
has a population of 6,753 and an area of 1,086.15 km², of which
36.33 km² are water bodies. The population density is 6.43
inhabitants / km². The neighboring municipalities of Haapavesi are
Haapajärvi, Kärsämäki, Nivala, Oulainen, Raahe, Siikalatva and
Ylivieska.
The business is based on raw material resources,
which are processed by Kantelee Voima, Vapo and Valio, whose
Haapavesi factory is known especially as a producer of Oltermanni
cheese. The largest peat-fired power plant in the world has also
operated in Eskolanniemi, Haapavesi. Haapavesi local newspaper is
published in Haapavesi.
The oldest human finds in Aspen Water date back to the
Stone Age. In the vicinity of Ainali in particular, many finds
dating to the Stone Age have been found. Haapavesi, located around
Kalainen's Pyhäjoki River, was an important wilderness area during
the Iron Age. Permanent settlement spread to Haapavesi in the 16th
century. Residents who settled on the banks of the Pyhäjoki River
came mainly from Savo, but also partly from the coast.
The
earliest livelihoods of aspen were fishing, hunting and agriculture.
Tar burning began in the early 17th century and was at its widest in
the late twentieth century. The popularity of tar burning was mainly
influenced by the favorable location of Haapavesi, the Pyhäjoki
river, which crosses the municipality, made it easy to transport tar
to the coast. Partly due to the large-scale tar burning, Haapavesi's
industrial activities were almost non-existent for a long time. On
Spa Island in the immediate vicinity of the church village, there
was a health spa in 1887–1926, where mud and clay baths were
provided. Water from Asko's health spring was enjoyed between the
baths. The population of Haapavesi was about 4,500 in the mid-1860s.
During the great years of famine, the population of the municipality
fell below 4,000. By 1920, however, the population of the
municipality was already over 7,000.
Haapavesi is mentioned
as the chapel parish of the Pyhäjoki parish at least as early as the
1640s, when the municipality's first preaching hall was built. It
was separated as an independent parish in 1863, which, however, did
not materialize until 1874. The second church of the parish was
built in the 1690s and the third, a wooden cruciform church, burned
in 1981, in 1784. The present church of the municipality was
completed in 1984.
Haapavesi is closely related to the
history of Finnish skiing. The most well-known skiers in the region
are Aappo Luomajoki (1845–1919), winner of the first Oulu skis
(1889), Juho Ritola (1871–1959), Matti Koskenkorva (1880–1965) and
Tapani Niku, who won the first Finnish skiing Olympic medal. With
the success of Haapavesi skiers, the type of ski developed in
Haapavesi, the so-called aspen water, which soon spread widely
beyond Aspen Water. Aspen water was previously used as a so-called.
longer than the forest ski (length almost 3 m) and narrower (width
approx. 7 cm). Haapavetinen was popular with racers from the 1880s
to the 1910s.
In 1892, Sergeant Nora Pöyhönen founded the
Haapavesi School of Economics, Finland's first school of economics
for girls. The original name of the educational institution was the
Nursery and Cooking School, later the Household College, as well as
the host school. Today, the school belongs to Haapavesi Vocational
School.
After the Second World War, evacuees from Soanlahti
were settled in Haapavesi. As a result, an orthodox prayer room was
built in Kytökylä in 1961–1962 on the basis of the Orthodox Church
Reconstruction Act.