Iron Ring


Click the image to learn more. This map of Milwaukee County from 2006 illustrates the many towns and villages that compose the Iron Ring around the city of Milwaukee that developed as a result of the Oak Creek Law.

As used in Southeastern Wisconsin, the phrase “Iron Ring” refers to the suburban municipalities that surround the city of Milwaukee and prevent it from annexing new territory. Suburbs abutting Milwaukee emerged primarily in two waves: the first from 1879 to 1919 and the second during the 1950s and 1960s, a movement greatly advantaged by passage of the so-called “Oak Creek Law” which loosened state guidelines required for incorporation. It is these later suburbs, in particular, that created a municipal “ring” around the city, preventing further expansion at the expense of surrounding townships. The state legislature played a key role in assisting this opposition to annexations efforts by Milwaukee.

For Further Reading

McCarthy, John M. Making Milwaukee Mightier. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2009.

Zeidler, Frank. A Liberal in City Government. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Publishers, LLC, 2005.