Tampere was founded on the banks of the rapids, as the rushing water provided a great deal of power for the needs of industry.
In the middle is the city's power plant and the lowest one in terms of altitude is the dam at the Tako paperboard mill, owned by M-real.
The permanent marketplace remained near the Tammerkosken kartano (Tammerkoski manor), west of the bridge over the channel.
In 1775, King Gustav III of Sweden travelled to Finland and signed the charter of foundation for Tammerkoski, a city later renamed to Tampere.
The Tako paperboard mill is the only major industrial installation still operational in the area, producing mainly high-quality packaging products for luxury items such as French perfume.
The waters of the Tammerkoski are rather unpolluted, belonging to the quality class II in the classification of the Finnish environmental authority and the channel is popular with fishermen.