Koskenpää is a village and former municipality of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city o ...

region. It was consolidated with

Jämsänkoski Jämsänkoski is a former town and municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It is located near Lake Päijänne and the Jämsänjoki river. The town had a population of 7,351 in 2008. It covered an area of 448.67 km² of which ...

in 1969, which in turn was consolidated with

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the second largest town of the Central Finland after Jyväsk ...

in 2009. It bordered Jämsänkoski, Jämsä,

Kuorevesi Kuorevesi is a former municipality in Finland. It was part of the Pirkanmaa region in western Finland. In the year 2001 it was consolidated into the town of Jämsä in the Central Finland region. The name of the municipality came from the Lake Ku ...

Keuruu Keuruu (; sv, Keuru) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

Petäjävesi Petäjävesi (; lit. "pine water") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland, next to the city of Jyväskylä, and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an ar ...

and

Korpilahti Korpilahti is a former municipality of Finland. Together with Jyväskylän maalaiskunta, Korpilahti was consolidated with Jyväskylä on January 1, 2009. It is located in the former province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland ...

. The distance to Jämsä is roughly 26 km.

Geography

Villages

Villages include: *Koskenpää or Koskenpään kirkonkylä *Kalmavirta *Sahloinen *Hankaperä *Lylyniemi *Mäkikylä

Lakes

Significant lakes include Iso Rautavesi, Kalmavesi and Salosvesi.

History

The history of Koskenpää is deeply connected to the history of

. The area was originally a part of the Jämsä parish and the name ''Koskenpää'' originally referred to the parts of the parish beyond the Jämsänkoski rapids. It was also known as ''Koskenpäällystä''. The idea of separating Koskenpää from Jämsä appeared in the 1880s due to Koskenpää's distance from Jämsä proper. Koskenpää was defined as a chapel community in 1901, which became a separate parish in 1912. The municipality was formed later in 1926 along with

. ''Koskenpään Tervatehdas Oy'', a tar production factory, was founded in 1909 and was closed in the 50s. It also produced charcoal and turpentine. Koskenpää was consolidated with Jämsänkoski in 1969, while Jämsänkoski was consolidated with Jämsä in 2009. The area of the former Koskenpää municipality has its own village association, ''Koskenpää ry''.

Services

There are over 30 businesses in Koskenpää.

Sauna production

The barrel-shaped sauna (''tynnyrisauna'') was invented in Koskenpää by Esko Niinimäki, who converted a large barrel from the defunct tar factory into a sauna. This sauna became an attraction and soon the production of barrel saunas was started in Koskenpää. ''Tynnyrimökit Oy'' still produces barrel saunas in the area of Koskenpää.

Education

Koskenpää has one school covering classes 1 to 6 (''ala-aste''). Grades 7-9 attend the Jämsänkoski school instead.

Travel

Like many other smaller settlements in Central Finland, Koskenpää has many summer homes, both private and rentable.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koskenpaa Former municipalities of Finland Jämsä