Old industrial region

Puhos is an old industrial region, as the first sawmill already operated there in the 18th century.  Gabriel Wallenius, known as “The King of Karelia” established a sawmill in Puhos in 1780, attracted by abundant hydropower, good traffic connections and brisk trade.

Nils Ludvig Arppe lifted Puhos to its unique glory with several industrial plants in the 19th century.

Old traditions gave reason to believe in the success of the mechanical wood processing industry in Puhos in the 1970s.

This led to a wide-ranging industrial process that produced nearly a thousand new jobs in ten years. This was soon called the “miracle of industrialisation”.