Utajärvi

Utajärvi lies on the Oulujoki, upstream from the town of Oulu. The villages of the river valley were once served by the distant parish church there. In 1760, men from Utajärvi and neighbouring villages petitioned to build a chapel at their own expense. Royal permission followed in 1761, and a wooden church was completed the next year. In 1766 Utajärvi became a chapel parish under Muhos, closer to the people who had built and maintained it.