In 1902, Peter Koskela and his friend, Henry Olilla, immigrated from Finland to Brantwood. Their wives and families arrived later. Koskela purchased the forty at NE NW, Sec 1, T35 N, R2E. While building their new 16' x 20' log house in 1902, the Koskela's stayed with their neighbors across the road to the north, the Thomas Hakko's. Peter's wife was the former Ingebor Tervonen. The current address of the homestead is N4865 Lustila Road, Brantwood.
Five children were born to the Koskela's in the house:
- 05-26-04 Hjalmer Jacob. Married Laina.
- 02-17-07 Inga Ann. Married Dale Kronsted.
- 11-25-09 Lawri. Married Laila.
- 01-25-13 Helen. Married Kenneth Stubbs.
- 10-04-16 Arnold Arthur 09-21-07. Married Violet Schroeder.
The first child, Nannie, was born in Finland. She was 16 years older than Arnold. She married Waino Wirtanen.
The children slept on the second floor.
In 1920, the family built, with the assistance of a neighbor, Charlie Lustila, and moved into a new frame house. The wooden floor from the log house was removed and installed in the kitchen of the new house. The log house was converted into a horse barn where a team of horses was kept. A new door was cut out on the north side for manure removal.
The last child, Imbie Irene, was born in the new house on 07-28-20. She married Rudy Sarenpa.
Arnold remembered one winter when, as a teenager, he skied north one half mile to the railroad tracks and then east to the Brantwood Co-op Store, purchased a 25 pound sack of flour and returned home.
The Koskela's lived on the western edge of the Brantwood-Clifford Finnish settlement. They socialized with their neighbors. They did not agree with the Finnish Socialist and Communist movements of the time and did not become members. They did attend silent movies at the Socialist Hall in Brantwood, but stopped going when the Communists took over.
The house was dismantled and moved to W1820 West Central Avenue in the summer of 2006. It has been reconstructed as the Koskela House Finnish Museum.
Peter Koskela 04-25-1875/04-27-61.
Ingebor Louiisa Tervonen 01-29-1877/07-18-59.
Married 02-16-1900 in Finland.
the museum...
The Koskela House Finnish Museum was established in Brantwood to preserve Finnish and Finnish-American heritage for future generations. Artifacts collected and displayed will provide visitors with an opportunity to learn about and better understand Finnish and Finnish-American history and culture.
Pictured below are just some of the items at the Museum.
To get to the KHFM, one has to go back, back in time and back in the woods. From West Central Avenue one drives through the beautifully landscaped grounds of Knox Creek Farm and on a road through the woods to a cleared glacial drumlin. The museum sets on the edge of the hill with a great view of the broad valley with a pond at the bottom. Surrounding the museum is a beautiful blue and white flowered Finnish garden, the centerpiece of which is the Juhannusruusu or Midsummer Rose brought back from Finland many years ago by the late Helga Korpela, one of Brantwood's most famous Finn's. As colorful as Helga was, the rose is not. It is a beautiful, fragrant single white rose that blooms within a day or two of the summer solstice or first day of summer.
One summer my exhibit was on Finnish glass birds. One guest wrote:
"A delightful afternoon at Koskela House Finnish Museum indeed! And--the beauty of it all. The breathtaking designs of Oiva Toikka Iittala Birds, the setting and views from the hill around your estate an absolute perfect combination. Thank you for the invitation."
Marianne
Phone: (715)564-2253 Email: cyrilla@centurytel.net