The story
Keuruu was originally known as Keuru. This name is first mentioned in 1552 as a wilderness used for hunting by the people of Sääksmäki. The northern part of the modern municipality was held by the people of Kangasala instead. Savonians settled the area in 1564, but some Tavastians also moved to their hunting grounds in the same area. At the time, it was possible to distinguish Savonians and Tavastians just by their names: Savonians had surnames usually ending in -nen, while that was not the case with the names of Tavastians. Out of the eleven original settlers, six were Savonians (surnames Karjalainen, Koponen, Manninen, Pynnänen, Ruoranen, Tiusanen), and five Tavastians.
The village was first mentioned in 1567 as Köyris. It was a part of the Ruovesi parish since 1571 and until 1636. By 1571, 31 new Savonian settlers had moved into the area while only two Tavastians remained, but more Tavastians came in the 17th century. The Savonians mostly came from Rautalampi and Laukaa. The Savonians and Tavastians later mixed, the local Savonian dialect is a relic of this. The southern part held by Sääksmäki was added to the new Keuruu parish in 1640.
Multia and Pihlajavesi were originally parts of the Keuruu parish. Multia was split off in 1872 and Pihlajavesi in 1910. However, Pihlajavesi rejoined Keuruu in 1969. The villages of Kivijärvi and Niemisvesi in Ähtäri were originally villages of the Keuruu parish.
From Wikipedia’s article on Keuruu, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5