Schisshyttan is located in a region where metals and minerals have been quarried since ancient times. There is document issued by King Magnus Eriksson and dating back to 1354 that mentions silver mining and iron making industries in this area.

Together with the neighboring estates Starbo and Gessberg Schisshyttan attracted leading statesmen to explore the important mineral and metal sources in the area for centuries. The owners of Schisshyttan include prominent names such as Swedenborg, De la Gardie, Banér, Wegelin, Cedercreutz, Cronstedt and Rinman and its history is very much the history of geoscience and the technological developments of metal and steel production.

During a period of 100 years Schisshyttan was one of the most renowned iron producing industries in Sweden and in the mid-18th century Rinman, the father of the Swedish metal mining industry, arrived here and formed a metallurgic center developing the manufacturing of steel.

Forestation was essential for this development. The fuel for the mining operations and furnaces - wood - played a key role when extracting metals from the bedrock. Without wood and mining would not have been possible. Today the forest produces timber for sawn products and logs for paper and pulp as and is again increasingly a source of energy.

In the 1930s iron and steel production had ceased at Schisshyttan, and the property was purchased by Axel Ax:son Johnson and Avesta Jernverk. The industrial historical era of Schisshyttan had come to an end.