The Finnish Community in Sault Ste. Marie - 1890's-1930's

Summer picnic with members of the Finnish Band, 1912

Northern Ontario, and Sault Ste. Marie in particular, has had a thriving Finnish population for more than a century. A 1928 article from the Sault Daily Star suggested that at one time, Sault Ste. Marie’s immigrant population was as much as 25% Finnish. By 1930, approximately 2000 Finns called Sault Ste. Marie "home". 

Sault Daily Star headline, 1923

​In the mid 1800’s. Finland was in a dark period of political upheaval, coupled with famine due to years of poor crops that caused country-wide food shortages. These factors led to the first wave of mass immigration from Finland. Many Finns moved to other European countries, such as Sweden and Norway, but also to North America in search of steady work and affordable property. In 1898, the Russian occupation of Finland began with the appointment of Nicolai Bobrikov as Finland’s Governor General. Finland’s national language was changed to Russian, and the Finnish Army was merged with the Russian Army, forcing Finns to serve. Once conscription began, a second wave of immigration occurred. It is suggested that between 1864-1914, approximately 20,000 Finns came to Canada, and another 200,000 to the United States. According to the 1911 census, Sault Ste. Marie had the second highest Finnish population in Canada.  Finnish-Canadian historian Varpu Lindstrom-Best suggests that these numbers are in fact much higher as those who immigrated during the period of Russian occupation would have had Russian listed as their nationality on their immigration papers. Many documents regarding early Finnish immigration also neglect the Swedish-speaking Finnish population, incorrectly listing them as Swedes, which may also affect these statistics. ​

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To the Finnish immigrants, North America was “The land of gold”. New industries provided many job opportunities for immigrants of all nationalities, such as the building of railways, logging and mining. Although difficult work, these jobs appealed to the Finns as they didn’t require fluency in the English language. In addition to the abundance of work, Canada also appealed to the Finns due to its similarities to Finland in both landscape and climate. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Government of Canada advertised its affordable and fertile land in a number of countries, including Finland, in an effort to attract immigrants to farm. ​

A date book from Einor Nieminen, 1928, showing his travels for work, Note ACR work, lumber. From the collection of the Sault Museum

Algoma, 1930's

Farming wasn’t initially what pulled Finns to the area around the Sault, however. F. H. Clergue had come to the Sault in 1894 in an attempt to pull the newly constructed power plant out of bankruptcy. He quickly realized that the forested area surrounding the Sault was an untapped resource, and by 1895, constructed the Sault Ste. Marie Pulp and Paper Company (which was to become St. Mary’s Paper). Clergue had also staked out an iron ore deposit near Wawa, the Helen Mine, and determined that Sault Ste. Marie would be a prime location for steel production. He founded the Algoma Central Railway to service these industries and allow raw materials to be transported from further north to the Sault. All of these projects have documented Finns working on them, from the construction of the locks before the arrival of Clergue, to the building of the paper mill, the mines in Gold Park and the ACR. Many Finns went on to work for Lang and Ross, Great Lakes Power, and Algoma Steel.​

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Finnish bush camp, 1930's

Log driving in Algoma

Prior to the railway, logging bush camps only existed along waterways where logs could be driven down the rivers. Trees were cut, and occasionally bound where there were no risks of logs becoming jammed, and floated down the waterways to where they would eventually be purchased and processed. Finns were experts at tukinuitto (Finnish) or timmerflottning (Swedish) as they had been doing this in their home country since the 17th century, but it was dangerous work. Many died from exposure, being crushed between logs along the river, and from drowning. In the infancy of the industry, many who worked in logging lived in tents or buildings constructed of brush, but once the logging industry was more established, permanent camps were set up, largely built by Finns. Everything on these camps were constructed by hand, from the buildings to the saws that they worked with (called swede saws). The first buildings constructed were saunas, followed by animal shelters and worker housing. In larger camps, mess halls were built to accommodate large crews and the camp cooks, most whom were Finnish women. Many of the bush camps were in operation from the turn of the century until the 1940s, most named after the family’s who built/owned them or simply by the mile they were located at. John Aho’s camp at mile 68 was kept through multiple generations, Hormavirta’s and later Tähden Camp at Mile 122, Mäki’s camp at Mile 251. Finnish bush camp operators or contractors operating around the Sault were Neimi, Tähti, Selin, Vainio, Nieminen, Lampi and Nenonen’s, amongst others. After the Depression, and with the advent of modern equipment, most of these bush camps closed and the Finnish pioneers working at them went on to other lines of work.

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John Aho's bush camp at Mile 68

Lehto's Steam Bath advertisement, 1926

Finnish immigrants were settling in the city at this time as well. Between 1900 and 1940, there were over 50 businesses owned and operated by Finns, mostly in the area of Albert Street West, Queen West and Huron Street. This area was referred to as Häkkisen Mäki.  There were Finn owned woodyards serviced by the bush camps, taxi services, pool halls, bottling companies, contractors and tailors. Rooming houses were owned by Lehtinen’s, Häkkinen’s, Ravia’s, Nieminen’s, Laahanen’s, Nenonen’s, Sundberg’s, Niemelä’s, Kesti’s, Lehto’s, Hanson’s, and Ketola’s. These rooming houses played an important role as they provided immigrants with a place to stay where they could speak the languages of home (Both Finnish and Swedish are the national languages of Finland), and provided a community in their new country. Grocery and general stores such as Raivia’s Soumalainen Kauppa and The Finnish Co-Op provided quality goods and employment to Finns in the area. Two hotels were owned by Finns, The Nicolet (Aarnio) and The Imatra (Kuisma). Ever important to the Finnish communities were the steam baths; saunas (Finnish), or bastu (Swedish). Sault Ste. Marie had several including the Steam Baths at 340 Albert St. West, owned by Lehto’s, the No. 2 Finnish Bath House on Murray Street and Masonen Steam Baths at 356 Albert West. Restaurants and cafes like Otto Hakkinen’s, the Finlandia Cafe on Albert West, Lind’s Finnish Bakery on Gore St. and were also popular gathering places for Finns, as were Hanson’s Cafe and Billiards Hall. ​

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Charles Häyrinen Jr., taxi service

Rahua Rantamaki, Sylvi Nenonen, Leander Hultholm, Anio Niemela, Siiri Hirvi and two others pictured outside of the Finlandia Cafe in Häkkisen Mäki.

Delivering ice for the Finnish Co-Op

With a growing Finnish community came the need for cultural and social activities. The first Finnish Lutheran Chuch service was held in the Sault in 1896 at the home of Pastor Kaarle Tolonen as there was not yet a church built. The first official St. Mary’s Finnish Lutheran Church congregation was formed in October of 1905, with 7 members. The original church was constructed on Sixth Ave. in 1923 by Finn Albin Nenonen, where it was located until 1932. The church structure was then moved over the course of a week to a lot on Wellington Street West. St. Mary’s Lutheran Church remained there until 2010 when it amalgamated with the Zion Lutheran Church. Other Finnish churches were the Finnish Pentecostal Church, whose congregation was formed in 1927. There were also Finnish ministers at the United Church as of 1931. In addition to providing support for Finnish immigrants in the community, the churches also fundraised for Finnish war efforts and held social events.

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Hija Ogren, Saimi Ogren, Anna Kinnunen and Greta Kinnunen standing in front of St. Mary's Finnish Lutheran Church, 6th Avenue.

Finnish Temperance Club

Along with Finnish church congregations, the Finns formed many other clubs and organizations between the 1890s and 1940s. Temperance Societies were a popular social club with the aim of promoting abstinence from alcohol. The first formed in 1893, and a later group in 1901. The Finnish Temperance Club had a hall on Queen Street West where they held Sunday school, put on concerts and plays, and taught English classes for Finnish children. 

​The rules of the Temperance Society were strict, so naturally, other more lenient groups formed. The Imatra Alliance group (named for a town in Finland) was formed in 1905 to put on programming and social activities for Finns in Sault Ste. Marie. The Thompson Street Hall was purchased by the Imatra Alliance in 1920. This hall was used for labor meetings, dinners, dances, concerts, live theatre and even weddings. The original structure was replaced in 1925 with a new building at a cost of 18,000 dollars. Fundraising, social, political and athletic events were also held at the Finnish Hall at 121 Huron Street.​

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Sault Daily Star advertisement for the new Thompson Hall, 1925

The Finns have always had close cultural ties with the arts, music in particular. The bush camps almost always had a resident Finn with an accordion or a violin. In the city, there were two Finnish bands which played at the halls and the juhannusta/midsommar (midsummer) festivities, one being the Sault Ste. Marie Finnish Band Sävel. Concerts would often be at the locks near the grounds of the superintendent’s house, an area frequented by local Finns. Sault Ste. Marie was also home to a number of choirs; The Blue Collar “Sinikot” Choir, Thompson Hall Ladies Choir and the St. Mary's Finnish Ladies Choir. Choirs remained popular with Sault Ste. Marie Finns, leading to the formation of the popular Kaleva Mens Choir in the 1960s. ​

Thompson Hall Ladies Choir, 1912

Thompson Hall, 1930's

Sault Daily Star, 1927

Finnish immigrants are credited as being some of the first to form theatre troupes in Sault Ste. Marie at the turn of the century. The Soo Finnish Workers Theatre, the Hussey Hall Performers, The Finnish Dramatic Club and the Thompson Street Hall Performers put on Finnish theatre productions. Jussi Palokangas, a local Finnish historian, poet and author, was largely responsible for the productions and the Sault Ste. Marie Museum is fortunate to have many of his plays and stage notes donated by the Ontario Finnish Resthome Collection. The Finnish theatre groups in the Sault faded out in the 1940s, both because of the political landscape (The Winter War, WWII) distracting Finns from participating in leisure activities and because of the social politics between the theatre groups. Finnish theatre did have a small resurgence in the decades following, but not to the extent of the 1910's-1930's.

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Athletic groups were also popular with Sault Ste. Marie Finns. The Temperance Clubs were responsible for some organized sporting activities early on, and eventually, the Wesa Club was formed through the Thompson Hall. Wesa had programs for men’s and women’s gymnastics, track and field, and wrestling. The Voima Club was formed in 1924 by Hjalmar Kauppi, and also had programs for track and field and gymnastics. They participated in competitions with other Finnish groups in Northern Ontario including Sudbury Sisu, and some American-Finnish athletic clubs as well. Many high-profile wrestling matches took place at the Huron Street Finnish Hall in the 1920s.

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Sault Daily Star, 1923

Sault Daily Star, 1939

The end of the early Finnish athletic clubs was due in part to a large number of their members leaving for Karelia. During the depression of the 1930’s, many Canadian and American Finnish immigrents, including approximately 80 from the Sault, were lured to the Soviet Union occupied Karelia through the promise of land and employment, which they were having difficulty procuring in Canada. Once in the Soviet Union, Finns were forced into prison work camps and many were executed. Of the 80 that left Sault Ste. Marie due to “Karelian Fever”, only 20 returned. The horrors of Karelia and its effect on Finns in Ontario have been well documented by historian Varpu Lindstrom-Best in both academic papers as well as the National Film Board documentary Letters From Karelia. 

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Very little physical evidence remains from the bustling and vibrant Finnish neighbourhood, Häkkisen Mäki. Several boarding houses, including Raivia's at 336 Albert Street, and Kresti's boarding house and cafe, still stand. However, much of the area between Albert, Huron, Queen West and Thompson Street, including the Thompson Street Hall, was demolished when the bridge plaza was built in 1960. One of the last remaining commercial landmarks in that area was Lehto’s Steam Baths, which was demolished in 2021. A brick from this building remains in the collection of the Sault Museum. ​

Midsummer bonfire burning at the Ontario Finnish Rest Home, June 2024

Through all of the hardship endured in the early years, the Finnish community remained, and remains, strong. Many organizations started by Finns have thrived in more recent memory, some longer than others. The aforementioned Kaleva Choir formed in 1961, the Sault Finnish Club Sirkat, the Finnish congregation of the Zion Lutheran Church, the local branch of the Friends of Finland Society, the Ontario Finnish Resthome Association that was formed in 1971, the Soo Finnish Ski Club, the Canadian Finnish Historical Society, the Sault Finnish School Soon Suomi Koulu, and the many Finnish Grand Festivals held locally, to name a few. 

Every year, the Sault Finnish Resthome puts on a juhannus (Finnish) or midsommar (Swedish) celebration for both the residents and the public alike. Finnish flags fly, the traditional Finnish bonfire burns and accordion music plays. You may even see a traditional kansanpuku (Finnish) or folkklanning (Swedish) being worn. As you walk around the grounds, conversations can be heard in English, Finnish and Swedish. On that day in June, the grounds of the Rest Home sounds, smells and feels like Finland.  

As my Finnish - Canadian grandmother would often say; Borta bra men hemma bäst, or in Finnish; Ei ole paikkaa kuin koti.

There is no place like home. 

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