What has Espoo been like in different eras?

People have been living in Espoo since the Stone Age, for about 9,000 years. No visible signs of settlements from the Stone Age (7,000 BCE–1,700 BCE) remain, and the observations of human activity are based on artefacts found in the area. In the Espoo landscape, the Stone Age sites are usually located on the edges of current fields, some entirely on the field and some entirely on the forest side. In the open landscape, you can still discern the raised beaches formed by an ancient sea. Centuries of field cultivation and tillage may have damaged the settlements from the Stone Age. In the forest, the settlements have survived better, but they are more difficult to spot in the uneven terrain.

Few traces of the Bronze and Iron Age settlements remain in the terrain. Instead, the artefacts found in the area indicate that the settlement was of a permanent nature. During the Bronze Age, a custom of burying the dead was established, and for at least some of the dead, a mound of stones was built on top of the burial site. There are 20 known mound tombs in Espoo that date back to the Bronze Age and possibly to the Iron Age. All tombs have not been examined with archaeological methods which would confirm the timing. 

So far, only one Iron Age dwelling and burial ground have been found in Espoo. They are located in Taavinkylä. The burial ground is known as the Dåvitsin kalmisto burial ground. The number of Bronze Age artefacts found in Espoo has increased as the use of metal detectors has become a more common hobby. When studying hoards and artefacts found in the area, we can estimate that the Espoo area was inhabited throughout the Iron Age.   

The natural formation in Espoo that has been continuously inhabited and moulded by humans for the longest is the Espoonjokilaakso river valley that reaches from Hämeenkylä to Kauklahti to west of Espoonlahti to Porkkalanniemi. There have been villages in Kauklahti, Mankby and Mäkkylä since at least the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century. The village burial grounds found in Finnoo and Kauklahti are from an era before the establishment of parishes in the 13th century and the construction of parish churches in the 14th century.  

The locations of medieval houses still largely exist. These include Gammelgård, Nedre Röös, Övre Röös, Nedre Juun, Övre Juun, Juva, Neppers, Juus and Ers. In 1540, there were 114 villages in Espoo. In the area of modern Espoo, there are 68 medieval villages known by name.   

During the Middle Ages, a rural landscape started to form in Espoo and its most prevalent characteristics remained unchanged until the mid-1950s. The most notable monument of the Middle Ages is the grey-stone church of Espoo which is located in the middle of Espoon keskus. It was built in the late 15th century and today it is used as a cathedral.

Mankby has a unique medieval village plot that is being turned into an archaeological park. Espoo is also a manor region, but there was only one medieval manor: Gräsa Manor founded in the 15th century. Olari Church was built in its place in 1981. 

Most of the Espoo residents who lived here centuries ago were working common people whose dwellings were small cabins. Or, they were peasants whose wealth varied, which was reflected on the construction and ownership of farms. Only a small part of the population belonged to the gentry, the burghers, the clergy or the nobility. 

However, since the 18th century, the number of estates wealthy enough to contribute to the military effort, villas and manors owned by the “gentlefolk” in Espoo was high in proportion to the number of inhabitants. Some of the manors have survived, even though a considerable number have been demolished. 

The oldest fields in Espoo were cleared in river valleys or bays exposed by isostatic uplift. The first precise parish map was drawn up in the middle of the 18th century. In the map, the largest field areas are marked on the same places where the most important remaining farming lands still exists; the areas of Espoonkartano, Söderskog, Röylä and Snettans. In the 18th century, small villages consisting of just a few houses were located on the edges of the open fields, on sheltered slopes and ridges. In Espoo, it was common for there to be several independent villages very close to each other on the edge of the same field. In the villages, the buildings stood as an irregular group, and even in the yards the placement of buildings had no clear pattern. The small size of the villages also contributed to the fact that the land reform carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Great Partition, did not really change the village landscape in Espoo. In most cases, the houses remained where they were and the surrounding farmland was redistributed. Thus, the old village structure remained in Espoo for considerably longer than in the neighbouring municipalities.

The modernisation of the world can be said to have happened during the 20th century. Over the course of the century, Finland and Espoo developed from an agricultural society into an industrial and post-industrial society. This change happened through the First World War, Finland's independence, the Second World War, industrialisation, population growth, structural change and the construction of a welfare state.

The effects of global power politics at the beginning of the 20th century can still be seen in Espoo in things such as the land fortifications build around the Helsinki Metropolitan Area during the First World War. The Russian Empire used them to prepare for an attack by the German Empire. Fortifications had also been built during the Crimean War (1853–1856) when Russia faced Great Britain.