As the 1880s drew closer, the sailing ship era came to an end. Steamships began to take care of the foreign trade. At first the shipowners of Raahe did not believe in the triumphal march of the steamships, and therefore did not invest in them. Raahe, the busy shipping town turned back to a leisurely country town.

However, new schools were founded during the quiet period. The Raahe Burgher and Commercial School was founded in 1882 by the funds left by Johan and Baltzar Fellman. The Teachers’ College for Women was founded in 1896.

A private railway from Raahe to Lappi station was a great show of effort. The track was opened in 1899. Attempts were made by the track to recover the vast inland trading areas that were lost after the railway of Ostrobothnia was built.

For the first decades of the 20th century, Raahe lived on agriculture, education, the harbour, sawmill industry and the incipient metal industry.