Bay View was built as the company town for the Milwaukee Iron Company, which was established at the outlet of Deer Creek into Lake Michigan in 1867. Most people credit the Bay View name to Mrs. William Durfee, wife of the steel mill's chief engineer. In 1879, Bay View incorporated as a village but eight years later joined the city of Milwaukee. Although Bay View owes its existence to the steel mill, it closed in 1929 and was torn down 10 years later. Bay View was Milwaukee's first industrial suburb and Wisconsin's first company town. In 1982, the Bay View National Historic District was created to preserve a portion of this area that still retains the community pride that was born with the steel mill and Bay View's village days.
