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In 16O6, Charles IX founded the town of Vaasa around the oldest harbour and trading point in Ostrobothnia. The town was named after the Royal House of Wasa, and the coat of arms of the same House was to be its symbol. In the 17th century, trading was f
lourishing and many of the bourgeoisie of Vaasa managed to amass considerable fortunes.
During the Great Hate of 1714, the town was destroyed and the trading vessels of the bour geoisie were burnt. The years of crop failure completed the destruction. Most of the inhabitants fled to Sweden.
In 1765, Vaasa received its town charter, and after that seafaring began to flourish again. Exported goods, such as tar, pitch, grain, butter, hides and timber gave rise to the prosperity of Vaasa. In the mid 19th century, C.G. Wolff built a fleet of
sailing vessels, the largest private fleet in the North at that time.
At Midsummer in 18O8 the town was destroyed again. The country was at war with the Russians who had taken over the province. The Swedish reinforcement were defeated. 400 men were killed in the battle. The enemy troops plundered the town for three days a
nd many inhabitants were killed.
In the early 19th century the houses in the small town of Vaasa did not differ much from those of the peasants' in the countryside.
There were a few two-storey buildings but only on Kauppiaankatu. During the dark seasons the route streets got light from tallow candles in lanterns which stood at street-corners.
In 1793 there were 2,178 inhabitants in Vaasa, in the year of the fire, 1852, the number was 3,2OO.
A small grey stone church was built as early as at the end of the 14th century. It was enlarged on many occasions, e.g. after the visit of Peer Brahe in 1649. The church bells, the communion silver, the organ, the chasubles, and the chandeliers were sto
len during the Great Hate. In the mid 18th century, the church, which was intended for the whole province, was rebuilt into a large cruciform church. After the war in 1808-1809, the interior of the church was painted white and gold. In the 1840's, t
he altarpiece, painted by J.G. Sandberg, was installed. At present, this altarpiece is in Mustasaari Church.
In 1776, as the Court of Appeal was built in Vaasa by Gustavus lll, this was the second Court of Appeal in Finland. With the establishment of the Court of Appeal the town gained importance, and the social life brightened up. The building, which was desig
ned by superintendent C.F. Adelcranz, was completed in 1786. About that time, in 1776, the town received a printing office, and in the 184O's the first high-speed print in the entire country. After the great fire in the town, when almost everything was bu
rnt to the ground, the building of the Court of Appeal began to serve as the church for Mustasaari congregation.
The bell-tower, designed by C.A. Setterberg, was built in the 1870's
A school for children was founded in Vaasa in 1 641. A junior secondary school was moved to Vaasa from Uusikaarlepyy in 1683, and the school foundations, which are still to be seen, were built in 1691. Finland's peasant poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, among o
thers, was a pupil of the junior secondary school. In the early 19th century the following schools were in Vaasa: a school for the poor, or a so called Bell-Lancaster School; a commercial institute; a navigation school. and a school for handicrafts. A sen
ior secondary school was founded in 1841, to which Zacharias Topelius dedicated the famous provincial song, the Vaasa March.
With the establishment of the Court of Appeal the town gained importance, and the social life brightened up. In 1794, the first reading library in Finland was set up in Vaasa. There were theatre performances and concerts. Vaasa had a public bath, asoc
ial hall, and various public houses. A provincial hospital was founded as early as 1768, and in 1844 it was expanded to contain 120 beds.
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