Timber from the forests has been processed in the Jämsänjoki valley for more than 200 years. First came the water-powered sawmill in the Jämsänkoski rapids in the 1790s. The sawmill was followed by a chemical pulp mill and paper mills, groundwood plants and the new paper mill in Kaipola, Jämsä, in the 1950s. The chapters in the story of the river valley forest industry serve in many ways as a general example of the history of forest industry in the whole of Finland. Exceptionally, the pulp mill became operational first in Jämsänkoski, and not the groundwood plant, as was the case in most other early paper towns.

This website examines the river valley paper industry from various perspectives. These include different aspects of production, the diverse roles of man in a factory community, environmental changes, and the stories of different manufacturing companies. The focus is the years 1920 - 1980, time of Yhtyneet Paperitehtaat Osakeyhtiö (United Paper Mills Ltd). In terms of time, the website travels from the end of the 1700s to the turn of the 1980s. Emphases vary in different subject areas.

Some important sections will be added to the website later, e.g. personal histories and descriptions of the repair workshop, laboratory or the company's construction department by past employees. We hope that the site will also bring back readers' memories, which they can send to the Museum24 Memory Box.

Text: Tarja Antikainen
Photos: from the UPM-Kymmene Oyj collection, unless specified otherwise