Town of Raahe was granted the staple rights, rights to run foreign trade, in 1791. The town needed a packhouse, a customs house by the sea, near the harbour. The new customs house, built in the early 1900s near the railway station, became a youth center in the 1980s.
The history of customs in Raahe dates back to 1791, when the town was granted the staple rights. During Swedish rule, only the cities with staple rights were allowed to practice international trade. First, a packhouse (a type of customs house) had to be built, and only then were skippers and merchants allowed to bring their goods through the port of Raahe.
In Joseph Fonten's grid plan of 1801, the packhouse is drawn on the edge of the market square, next to the loading dock. The building was spared from the fire in Raahe in 1810, but was already in a bad state of repair. Preparations for the construction of a new packhouse began in March 1843. A two-storey packhouse was built on the edge of the old market square between 1845 and 1856. The old packhouse was bought by Carl Abraham Levon for 325 silver rubles. We know this packhouse as the Packhouse Museum.
The building known as the Youth Centre Paradise is a former customs house built at the turn of the 20th century. It has features of the tinkerer style, or neo-renaissance applied to wood. Art Nouveau features are mainly visible in the doors and eaves decorations.
Additional Information (In English)
City of Raahe - Packhouse
Raahe Museum - Packhouse
Additional Information (In Finnish)
Raahen Matkailuoppaat ry - Nuorisokeskus Paradise
Kansalaistalo Konsti ry
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