The oldest traces of human settlement in Keila trace back 2000 to 3000 years BC. Around 1000 years ago the village of Keila was established along the Keila river. In 1219 the Danish conquered Northern-Estonia and chose Keila as the site on which the Vomentakæ
parochial Revala
county church was to be built. The first church was a small wooden structure dedicated primarily to St. Michael which was replaced with a stone church at the end of the 13th century. In the 15th–16th century, a settlement comprising some tens of buildings and a hundred people formed around the church. Further hampered by the plague and starvation in 1601–1602 the population decline reduced the community to a small church village. This was to be the case for three centuries. An upturn began in the second half of the 20th century. One of the first notable cultural events was the erection of a statue of
Martin Luther in 1862 near the
kirikumõis (Church manor). However the statue was completely destroyed in 1949. In 1885 the first song festival was held in Keila. The festival was composed of 19 choirs and supervised by
Konstantin Türnpu from
Klooga. In 1867 the first school was opened in
Väljaotsa farm celebrating the start of education in Keila. The development of Keila took a turn with the establishment of the
Tallinn–Paldiski railway line in 1870. After the railway to Keila was built, the place became known—as a
pun—as (German for 'bowling alley'). Keila officially became a town on 1 May 1938.
Military base During Soviet times a military base, known as
Tankipolk 'Tank Regiment', was built on the outskirts of the town for the housing of soldiers and tanks. The base was demolished a few years after the Soviet army left the country. Years later a residential district was built on the site of the base. The woodland areas around it have also been cleaned up and turned into paved, and partially lit, paths. During winter the area acts as a skiing track with many hills and paths. The paths range from in length. The largest of the hills is known as
Tankimägi 'Tank Hill'. , no more than a few building foundations remain of the base. == Geography ==