In the year 1687 the governor estimated that there were 70 families, a total of about 200 settlers, in Kuusamo. This is probably a little higher than the number of the original Sámi population.
The last time the Sámi were recorded in the population register was 1760, when there were three of them in Kuusamo. However, it is evident that their culture in some form influenced the population.
In 1687, a small pulpit was built in Kuusamo. In the following decade, the first real church was completed on the site of the current church, a 17-meter long and wide log cross church. A belfry rose next to it, where the bell donated by King Charles XI was raised.