History
Historical Sketch of the Office
Dec 1, 1937
This office was established on August 31, 1850 as a Consular Agency. On November 1, 1917 it was raised to a Consulate. On January 12, 1934 the Legation and the Consulate were combined. On January 1, 1938 the name of Consulate was changed to Consular Section of the Legation.
No description of the premises occupied by the Consular Agency can be given because Consular agents being local men did the work of the agency in their own business offices.
Upon the arrival of Mr. Haynes, the first American Consul of career, on October 27, 1917, the United States Consular Agency was situated in the shipping offices of Mr. Victor Ek, who was the Consular agent, at 16 Västra Kajen.
The Consular Agency was abolished on November 1, 1917 and an American Consulate established. Owing to unprecedented crowding of city by Russian sailors, soldiers, and refugees mostly of Russian nationality, it was impossible to obtain quarters. For this reason business was conducted for two weeks in the Grand Hotel Fennia. In the middle of November, 1917, quarters were obtained at No. 2 A Radmansgatan, where the office remained during the Red revolution and until after the coming of the Germans to Finland, when, in the latter part of May, 1918, quarters were moved to no. 3 Unionsgatan. During the first week in September, 1919 the Consulate was moved to no. 2 Södra Esplanadgatan (corner of Esplanadgatan and Uniongatan). Here quarters were ample.
When the offices of the Legation and the Consulate were separated in March, 1920, the Legation took two rooms facing one street and the Consulate four rooms facing another street (the house being a corner house) and the premises of the two offices were separated by an internal partition with a door in it. On November 1, 1922 the Legation increased its premises by renting two further rooms adjacent to its own apartment, having built a new partition beyond them and a door for internal communication. The Consulate remained at no. 2 Södra Esplanadgatan until June 1, 1928 when it was moved to no. 25 Fredriksgatan.
On June 1, 1931 it was moved into the Stockmann building onto the same floor where the Chancery of the Legation and the Commercial Attaché had offices. When in January, 1934 the Legation and the Consulate were combined the premises occupied by the combined office comprised those of the Consulate, of the office of the Commercial Attaché (abolished in 1933) and three additional rooms adjoining the Commercial Attaché’s office rearranged for the purpose of new partitions put in by the Stockmann Company. These premises are still occupied by the Legation and its Consular Section at date of writing (December 1937).
On December 6, 1917 Finland became an independent republic upon its separation from Russia and the first diplomatic representative to be appointed was Mr. Thornwell Hayes who was American Consul at Helsingfors at the time, and who was appointed by the Department on May 24, 1919 American Commissioner with the name of Minister Plenipotentiary.