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The oldest maps of Tervo and the 18th century land reform Finland was still part of the Swedish realm in the eighteenth century, and this was a time of enlightenment and social reform. The great land reform started by the Swedes was aimed at consolidating scattered fields into larger units. The process was begun in Finland after the Finnish land reform act was passed in 1762. Land reform reached Tervo not long afterwards and continued there into the early years of the nineteenth century. The land reform focused first on the village boundaries and then on farm boundaries. Forested land was divided up but lakes and other waters were not. The land division was determined on the basis of assessment units indicating the ability of households to pay taxes. To ensure fairness, the quality of land was graded according to its cultivation value. The present-day land register is still based on the 18th century land reform. The main part of the registration number for every farm or building plot indicates the holding to which it belonged in the great land reform. The land reform documentation shows the owner's name for each parcel of land. The documents also contain a lot of old place names, some long forgotten. Many have remained, however, as names are one of the more enduring elements in language. This website includes land reform maps for all villages which are within the present-day boundaries of Tervo, and also most of the associated documents. The original maps and documents are held at the Finnish National Archive. If you wish to obtain a print of a map or document for yourself, just send us a message to that effect using the feedback form on our contact details page. If you have difficulty opening the files, you probably need to update your version of Adobe Reader, which you can do by clicking on the link given.
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