Riuttanen watermill

Vanhatie 859 Myllykoski Toholampi

Toholampi had almost thirty windmills in the 1800s. Where there were rapids, watermills were also built. Sakri Järvenoja (1835–1885), a blacksmith known for his skills, built a watermill in the village of Riuttanen in the 1870s. This watermill is the only mill in Toholampi from that period still standing on its original location. The mill is located at Myllykoski rapids in Lestijoki. In 2006, the Mikkola brothers granted full ownership of the mill to the local heritage association of Toholampi. The mill was last refurbished by volunteers in the early 2000s.

Sakri Järvenoja’s abandoned home is located in the village of Jämsä. The house is called Sepäntalo (‘the blacksmith’s house’), and it is one of the destinations on the Iron Route.

Stories

“You can clearly see that the building was constructed by real professionals. It was built by (…) the famous Järvenoja men from Sepäntalo in the village of Jämsä. A previously built big windmill was also used for powering a sawmill. The large supporting poles have been chosen and cut with expertise. The mill has two grinding parts: one for animal feed meal and one for baking meal. The warm mill room upstairs has served as some kind of a meeting place and news agency for farmers who waited for their meal” (Kujala 2011, 56).