The story
The first documented mention of the village of Järvenpää is found in a tax list from 1540, where it is named in Swedish as Treskendaby; starting from the next decade, its Finnish name was used in parallel, in forms such as Jerffuepä or Järuenpää. Around this time, the village was documented to consist of eight estates. Prior to being transferred to the newly formed chapel of Tuusula in 1643, Järvenpää was part of the parish of Sipoo; Tuusula, in turn, became an independent pastorate (kirkkoherrakunta) in 1654.
While the population in Järvenpää had long been stagnant, it had started expanding again by the late 1700s, thanks to the evolution of agriculture at the time. In the middle of the 1800s, Järvenpää together with Nummenkylä formed the most populous village of Tuusula with around 450 inhabitants. Thanks to its location on the road between Helsinki and Mäntsälä, the village had grown into a minor concentration of commerce, with the presence of a kestikievari - a type of tavern - and several craftsmen. Thanks to these factors, one of the original intermediate stations of the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway was placed in Järvenpää.
Järvenpää was separated from its parent community Tuusula in 1951. Järvenpää was granted the status of a market town (kauppala) after the separation. Neighbouring districts Kellokoski and Nummenkylä were not added to the municipality of Järvenpää, and controversy over this decision exists to this day. In the event, Kellokoski remained part of the municipality of Tuusula. Bjarne Westermarck developed Järvenpää and is considered to be the founder of the town and was honored at its centennial celebrations by the release of a book about Järvenpää. Järvenpää was granted full legal town (kaupunki) status in 1967.
From Wikipedia’s article on Järvenpää, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
