The body of the museum’s collections consists of donations made in the 19th century: natural objects and utility articles from distant countries as well as exotic souvenirs. Later the collection was expanded with objects related to the cultural history of the town of Raahe, such as elaborate handicraft products made by local women, tableware and toys. The town’s prosperity in the Age of Sail can be seen in the exhibits of the museum.
The Crown Granary is the newest museum within the scope of the Raahe Museum, opened to the public on 21 October 2012.
Ernst Bernhardt Lohrman (1803–1870), architect at the office of the State Intendant, designed a new crown granary for Raahe in 1849. The brick granary was completed in 1852, and its capacity was 12,000 grain barrels. The Crown Granary functioned as the State’s grain storage until 1910, so all in all, it served its original purpose for over 50 years. After this, the Finnish Defence Forces took over the control of the Crown Granary and used it as the main storage facility of the Raahe military district until 1993.
The buildings housing the Ojala Museum used to be the Ojala farm, with two old residential buildings and a cowhouse. The main building dates back to the late 19th century. In 1913, it was converted into a shelter for the sick and the elderly. Mrs Augusta Durchman had bequeathed funds to the parish of Pattijoki for establishing a shelter, and these funds were used accordingly to purchase the Ojala farm. From 1957 to 1975, the building housed the municipal old people’s home of Pattijoki.
The Packhouse museum building has cultural historic value: this Old Customs House was built in 1848 and has also served as a Seaman House. The building has been preserved in nearly its original condition.
The Sovelius House is in the immediate proximity of the Packhouse on the other side of Rantakatu. The Sovelius House is the oldest surviving residential building in Raahe. The house, built in the 1780s, is a typical 18th century bourgeois home. It is a two-storey house on a high stone foundation, with exterior walls of vertical timber weatherboarding. The Carolinian floor plan, typical of the period, can still be seen on both floors: behind the wide hall there is a living room with two rooms on each side. The porch on the northern facade was added in the early 20th century.
The Saloinen Museum is an extensive complex consisting of 18 different buildings. The buildings and exhibits of the museum depict old sources of livelihood in the Saloinen region, i.e. fishing and farming. In the museum area, you can find, for instance, a forge, the fishing lodge of Eera Anttila as well as of the old log cabin of the Mutala farm, the history of which can be traced back to 1791. The handsome windmill in the museum area used to belong to the Tokola farm and it stood in the Kuljunmäki area where the Rautaruukki steelworks are currently located.
The collection at the Old Pharmacy is one of the most valuable collections of pharmaceutical objects in Finland. The visitors can admire wooden medicinal product boxes from the early days of the pharmacy, hundreds of apothecary jars from different centuries – the oldest of them dating back to the 18th century, various equipment used in the preparation of medicines, ceramic round jars used in the storage of medicinal products and chemicals, pharmaceutical retail packages from the 19th century and numerous other interesting objects. Many of the old jars still contain old medicines.
