Värtsilä

Värtsilä lies in the wooded Karelian borderland near the Jänisjoki. It was one of the villages of Tohmajärvi parish, established in 1651, and for centuries shared the history of that larger rural district. Watermills were already recorded in Värtsilä in 1651; in 1751 a mill was built at the Lempaankoski rapids at Patsola. The river and its falls supplied power for grinding grain from the surrounding farms.