THE LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND OF ULKOKALLA

History of the Kalla islands

The islet of Ulkokalla is located in the Gulf of Bothnia, on the outer sea about 22 km offshore from Kalajoki.  It rises a mere four metres above sea level. About 3 km away lies Maakalla islet, which is an old fishermen community. The Kalla islets have autonomy, which is inherited from the 17th century. On that time the fishermen came to the islets every summer for two months for fishing Baltic herring, and on the 19th century there were more than 200 inhabitants on Maakalla and about 100 inhabitants on Ulkokalla. The community needed rules for both fishing and living on the islands. On that time Finland was part of Sweden, and in 1661 the king of Sweden gave an order, where the regulations were specified, on how these kinds of fishing communities should be ruled. Those orders are still valid today, and the fishermen have a dominion of Kalla islets. Every summer on July all inhabitants of the islands get together in order make decisions on matters concerning the Kalla islets.

In 1857 the Pilot and Lighthouse Service decided to have a lighthouse built on the island. The location chosen was the higher of two islands, Maakalla. However, insurance companies and shipmasters wanted the lighthouse to stand further out on the islet of Ulkokalla. A 13-metre brick tower was completed in the summer of 1871. Its spiral staircase had 42 steps. Light was first lit on September 28th 1872. Axel Hampus Dahlström designed this lighthouse.

Three lighthouse keepers worked on the rugged island together with a lighthouse chief. Because of the ice conditions the lighthouse keepers and their families had to spend three months in a row on the island. They had to store rainwater for drinking water. A trip by one of the lighthouse chiefs attracted a great deal of publicity in the 1920's. He went to get supplies from the mainland and was trapped on an ice floe. He drifted for five days on it before he was rescued.

The residence of the lighthouse keepers burned down in 1944. The present large house dates from 1948 and has been repaired in 2003.

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