Postal Roads: Kuopio

Kuopio–Vaasa Road

Administration and trade developed in Finland in the late 18th century. In 1776, the province of Kuopio was separated from the province of Kymmenegård, and the Vaasa Court of Appeal was founded. Kuopio, the capital of the province, belonged to the jurisdiction of the Vaasa Court of Appeal. To keep Kuopio and Vaasa connected, a postal line between the two towns was established and a post office was set up in Kuopio in 1776. The post office in Vaasa had already been established in 1645.

Once the trade ban in the Gulf of Bothnia ended, merchants in Vaasa and Kokkola wanted to buy and sell merchandise from Savo. Because there were no passable roads from the inland areas to the coast, people and goods mainly travelled by water.

A new road was needed to connect the coast and the hinterland for both administrative and financial reasons. The decision to build the Kuopio–Vaasa road was made in 1775, and it was completed in 1784. The road, which connected the northern parts of Savo and Häme to the coastal towns, developed and remained the artery of trade and traffic in Southern Ostrobothnia until the end of the Swedish rule in Finland (1809).

Administrative operations developed

King Gustav III issued an order to found the town of Kuopio as the capital of the new province in 1775. A post office was founded in the town the following year. The first postmaster, Petter Boström, had previously held the same position in Kastelholm. The Kuopio office quickly grew into a medium-sized post office.

In 1786, a post office was also established in Laukaa, along the route from Kuopio to the coast. Letters were also delivered north, south and east from Kuopio. In addition to official letters, the gentry also wrote letters to each other.

The city of Kuopio was founded in 1775. The location map of the Kuopio town plan is from 1777.

Drawn by Isak Reinhold Hasselblatt. University of Jyväskylä’s publications archive.

Leather mailbags were tied to horse-drawn carriages

Before the opening of the railway in 1862, people moved either on foot or by horse, and on skis in winter. Horses served as vehicles for transporting goods on the road, and passengers travelling by horse had to be quite well off. An even more exclusive means of transport was the system whereby passengers could order a ride to take them from one place to another.

As volumes of letters increased, mail coaches were used in areas where roads were sufficiently passable. .

Mail was transported mainly by two-wheeled carts as the poor roads made it impossible to move in four-wheeled carts. Antti Nisula (Posti-Antti) picking up mail at Kannus station in Toholammi in the early 20th century.

Postal Museum

Harness bells were used as signalling devices

The sound of harness bells was a warning signal to other road users that a mail coach was approaching on a narrow road. Other travellers had to give a mail coach half of the road to pass.

Harness bells also kept the horse and the driver safe, especially in the dark, as the sound deterred predators. Other people used harness bells and sleigh bells when travelling to festivities and on long-distance journeys.

The embossing on the bell features crossed post horns and the year 1876. The Russian text at the bottom reads: Buy, don’t be miserly, ride with it, rejoice. The bell was used on the Pudasjärvi-Siivikko-Puhoskylä line.

Postal Museum

The posting system

The posting system was developed during the 17th century and was phased out in the early 20th century. The purpose of the system was to transport people, especially government officials, from one place to another.

Peasants were tasked with providing men, horses and transport equipment, depending on the size of their house. The routes passed from inn to inn, and it was usually innkeepers who arranged rides for travellers.

The posting system was based on inns that were located along roads at certain distances from each other. In addition to offering accommodation, they also kept horses and drivers for passengers.

Drawing by unknown, 1832. Postal Museum

Inns – the hotel chain of its day

Inns became part of the Crown’s posting system in 1734. They were located along the main roads and at intersections. Passengers could buy accommodation, food and a stable for their horses at an inn at a reasonable price.

As the volumes of letters posted grew and the number of coaches increased, the system of having peasant farmers deliver the mail, established in the 17th century, was replaced in 1846 by postmen who used the inns’ services. The mailbag was accompanied by a postman from one inn to the next.

Muhluniemi military office building in Laukaa. The first post office in central Finland was established in Muhluniemi in 1786. The building was sometimes also used as an inn.

Postal Museum

Postal services run by local authorities complemented the national post office’s delivery network

Delivering mail was the responsibility of the local administrative districts, as was the maintenance of roads and bridges, arranging of the posting system and construction of public buildings, and keeping people and cattle safe from predators, for example. The duties were shared by all houses in an area.

Postmen were elected at parish meetings and received joint wages, usually grain, sometimes cash. This service carried letters sent by governors and local authorities, and it continued until the late 19th century.

A public notice sent from Iisalmi to the church in Nilsiä on 27 May 1828. Public notices read in the churches conveyed information to people. The meander pattern referred to official mail and originally depicted the Three Crowns, the coat of arms of Sweden. Its shape later turned into a decorative ribbon.

Atte Moilanen’s private collection

Official ecclesiastical letters were delivered by the service run by the Church

The Church Acts (1572 and 1686) provided that it was the duty of parish clerks to carry letters from cathedral chapters, deans and ministers between neighbouring parishes. This was not a regular service but letters were delivered as required. The service ended when parishes were granted franking privilege in 1869.

The Church played a big role in communications in general. Official messages were read out from the pulpit on Sundays, and private letters posted in towns were distributed to parishioners after the church service.

A letter delivered by church clerk Nyberg from Laukaa to Saarijärvi in 1867.

Atte Moilanen’s private collection

People sent money and valuables in letters

Banknotes became more common in the 18th century. People sent banknotes in letters, which led to mail robberies. Even the death penalty did not stop robbers. Postmen were equipped with two pistols in 1777, and peasant farmers who delivered mail were given sabres.

Even some postmen could not resist the temptation. Jaakko Jaakonpoika Vähä-Tarvonen, a postman from Lappajärvi, was found guilty of opening letters and sentenced to hang by the district court and the Vaasa Court of Appeal in 1806.

Postmen needed arms against predators and robbers. First they had a spear, later a sword or a gun. A single-edged, curved sabre was part of the uniform in 1827. The double-edged sword dates from 1854.

Postal Museum