Oak Creek, Wisconsin | |
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City | |
Location of Oak Creek, Wisconsin |
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Coordinates: 42°53′4″N 87°53′57″W / 42.88444°N 87.89917°WCoordinates: 42°53′4″N 87°53′57″W / 42.88444°N 87.89917°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Wisconsin |
County | Milwaukee |
Area | |
• Total | 28.45 sq mi (73.69 km2) |
• Land | 28.45 sq mi (73.69 km2) |
• Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
Elevation | 702 ft (214 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 34,451 |
• Estimate (2012) | 34,908 |
• Density | 1,210.9/sq mi (467.5/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 53154 |
Area code(s) | 414 |
FIPS code | 55-58800 |
GNIS feature ID | 1570601 |
Website | www |
Oak Creek is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 35,451 at the 2010 census.
On January 2, 1838, the territorial legislature divided Milwaukee County into two civil townships: the Town of Milwaukee, encompassing everything north of the present Greenfield Avenue, and the Town of Lake encompassing everything south of the present Greenfield Avenue; "and the polls of election shall be opened at the house of Elisha Higgins, in said town." On March 8, 1839, a new Town of Kinnikennick was created, encompassing the western part of Lake (later the Towns of Greenfield and Franklin); and on August 13, 1840, the south portion of the Town of Lake was split off to form the town of Oak Creek. As of the 1840 census, the population of the Town of Lake (then including Oak Creek) was 418.
In 1955, the Town of Oak Creek, then still semi-rural with a population of 4807 in the 1950 census, was incorporated as a city under the terms of Wisconsin statute 66.0215, also known as "The Oak Creek Law." The Oak Creek Law was crafted by Town Attorney Tony Basile to prevent Oak Creek's annexation by the City of Milwaukee, which by annexations (including the 1954 annexation of the remainder of the Town of Lake) was now bordering Oak Creek and had already annexed one small portion of the town; and was shepherded through the legislature with the help of state Democratic party legislative joint committee chairman Leland McParland, who was the state senator for Oak Creek.
On August 5, 2012, a white supremacist gunman opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek. The gunman and six other people died, and several people were injured.