From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 

Oulu is a town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 540 at the 2000 census.

According to the 2000 census, 40% of the population still claim Finnish as their primary ancestry.

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According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 91.9 km² (35.5 mi²), all land. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 540 people, 192 households, and 134 families residing in the town. 

On December 7. 2004, Oulu celebrated 100 years as an independent township. Throughout the late nineteenth century, Wisconsin's virgin forests were fast disappearing and in their place were sprouting small family farmsteads and communities.

The land that was to become the town of Oulu was one such community that developed its roots among the stumps of past forests. As early as 1889, Finnish immigrants were leading the way in homesteading the land that was to later become the town of Oulu.
 
Swedish, German, Norwegian, and other European immigrants were also among those early homesteaders, but close to 75% of the original homesteaders were of Finnish descent. An even higher percentage of subsequent settlers were new Finnish immigrants or immigrants who had briefly settled in Northern Minnesota or Michigan.
The Finnish influence is present even in 21st century Oulu where, according to the 2000 census, 40% of the population still claim Finnish as their primary ancestry.
 
 

After several years of homesteaders and working the wilderness and logged over lands governed by the Town of Iron River, Oulu's early settlers lobbied to become a separate township.
 
Local legend tells of the Finns walking or skiing in to the Iron River town meetings and on occasion being met by closed doors and canceled meetings.

The separate identity finally became a reality on December 7, 1904. The name Oulu was chosen in respect for the homeland region and city in Finland that had been the birthplace of Andrew Lauri who led the effort to gain autonomy. With the help of a lawyer secured by Lauri, along with an affirming Bayfield County Board vote, the separate Oulu Township was born. It was the same year that the neighboring community of Orienta became an independent township.

 
The Finnish roots of the majority of the early settlers have had a significant influence on more than the name of the community. The saunas, farms and original homes were constructed much like those of the homeland. The early tools and farming techniques were also reminiscent of the old country's.
 
Most of the early medical treatments -from birthing to delousing- took place in the ever present Finnish saunas. Even in the classrooms of the early 1950's, there were students who were first learning to speak English. In addition, the Lutheran church services were more likely to be in Finnish than English until the 1950s.
 
With the dawn of the 21st century, although the demographics of the community have diversified, there is still a prevalence of Finnish surnames like:Elonen, Heikkila, Granlund, Johnson, Kangas, Kallinen, Kongas, Koski, Laakso, Lahti, Lehto, Lind, Maki, Mattila, Mattson, Mehtala, Mikkola, Pudas, Pyykola, Rantala, Rautio, Reijo, Sauvola, Suo, Taipale, Tapani, and Tuura.  In fact, many of these residents continue to claim 100% Finnish heritage.

Although Oulu's dominant influence has been Finnish, equally important were, and still are, the contributions made by the many non-Finnish settlers and their descendants. The Swedish Baptist Church and the Pine Glade Cemetery reflect the strong Swedish influence in the heart of Oulu. The names of descendants of many of those early non Finnish settlers - Anderson, Frostman, Goetsch, Pedersen, and Lindelof - are still found on mailboxes throughout the community.
 
Mining and lumbering skills brought many early settlers to the Mid-West to find their fortune. In reality, economic wealth was to elude most Oulu settlers.

Their pride and sense of accomplishment actually came from being landowners. Second generation families frequently continued to work and develop the Oulu Homestead farms settled either during the Homestead Act era in Oulu from 1889-1916, or during the second wave of land purchases.
 
The homesteaders era ended in 1916 with the final homestead issued to Andrew Peterson. This BLM information is contrary to information printed in "Historical Sketches of the Town of Oulu, Bayfield County, Wisconsin 1889-1956", stating that the Victor Salo homestead completed in 1907 was the last homestead land available in Oulu. At least portions of these original federal homesteads are still in the hands of descendants of the following homesteaders: John Pudas, Andrew Heikkila, and Nels Mattson families.
 
Several other original farms have also been referred to as homesteads and would be appropriately so by Webster's definition of "any dwelling with its land and buildings where a family makes its home". Many of these original farms were started by settlers who moved to Oulu prior to 1920.
 
During this era, settlers purchased land for their new farms from lumber companies, homesteaders or other owners. Land sales agents such as Henry Wallin,John Kanto and Charles Kamarainen were responsible for bringing many of the second wave of settlers to Oulu.
 
Many of these new landowners came from the Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota mining areas, or directly from Finland. This was the era when much of Eastern and Southern Oulu was first settled.  

Read more about Oulu's History in "Historical Sketches of the Town of Oulu, Bayfield County, Wisconsin 1889-1956", and "The Second Fifty Years: The Continuing Story of Oulu, Wisconsin 1950- 2004" available at the Oulu Mall.

Excerpts from these publications can be read on this website under the "History" button in the menu to the left.