The prayer house tradition in Ostvik reflects the free-church and lay-devotional movements that became widespread in northern Sweden from the nineteenth century onwards, often standing apart from the established parish church system. Little detailed history of the building itself has been supplied, so its age, architectural style and any distinctive fittings cannot be described here with confidence.
Ostvik's own history stretches back much further than its current bönhus. Documented from the sixteenth century as "Östewiick westanbecken", the settlement was recorded in a 1543 land register as home to five farming families, who held rights to a mill and a fishing lake. It was separated from the neighbouring village of Östanbäck by a stream known as Storbäcken.
The area is also remembered for a dramatic episode during the severe famine years of the 1860s. In the bitter spring of 1868, food shipments intended for the north failed to reach Skellefteå, and although provisions were available in the town, merchants raised prices beyond what many could afford. Villagers from Ostvik and Östanbäck marched on the town to seize stores of food, but were stopped at the edge of the settlement — an event still remembered locally as the "Ostvik War".
Visitors with an interest in the social history of Swedish free-church life may find the prayer house a modest but tangible link to this tradition, though it should be noted that no details of its construction date, architecture or interior have been confirmed by the sources available.