The air quality of Hyvinkää was considered healthy due to dense pine forests, and in the 1880s a group of physicians from Helsinki opened a sanatorium for patients seeking rest and recuperation.
Industrialization brought a wool factory to Hyvinkää in 1892 – the Donner family's Hyvinge Yllespinneri. The factory ceased operation in the 1990s, but the red-brick halls still remain. The building has found several new uses, including an exhibition centre and a theater.
Hyvinkää Airfield served as the country's main airport for a short time after the second World War while Helsinki-Malmi Airport was under the control of the Allied Powers. There is now a motorsports centre near the airfield
