Stories

The mother parish Suur-Lohtaja was known as a regional centre of anchor industry, which delivered anchors to the coastal shipyards of Central Ostrobothnia. According to Viljo S. Määttälä (2000, 163), “the ironworks of Määttälä probably delivered lots of anchors because this also opened the door for export to Stockholm”. As evidence of this, an entry in the bookkeeping of the admiralty states that in 1676 Klemetti Matinpoika Määttälä delivered anchors to the shipyard of the royal admiralty in Stockholm.

Karl Borg, the chaplain of Ylikannus, sent a letter to the Finnish Economic Society in 1800, praising especially Mikko Määttälä’s skills in iron manufacturing and in designing bloomeries and bellows. Borg proposed in his letter that even though iron manufacturing had decreased, it could be revived because of the rich resources of lake iron ore in the region. According to Borg, bellows could be operated with the waterpower from mills that were located on rapids. The charcoal needed for smelting iron ore would be endlessly available in tar-burning pits. Borg’s proposals did not result in action, so iron making as an actual source of livelihood ended (Luho & Luukko 1957, 248).