Historic Downtown Lodi

The Lodi Public Library was formed in 1899 by members of the Lodi Woman's Club who wished to provide books for the mental edification and relaxation of the community. The Library was initially housed in various homes and stores in the commu... Read more

This red brick commercial building was built in 1895 for Job Mills, a local farmer who also operated a cheese factory in Lodi and worked in the grain trade with his brother. Job Mills also served as Lodi’s postmaster, and one of the build... Read more

This building was built in 1895 by the Schmiedlin Brothers to house a meat market they operated. Meat for the market was harvested and prepared in the space behind this building, as there was a slaughterhouse, a smokehouse, and an ice house... Read more

The Bank of Lodi was formed around 1885 and consisted mainly of the town’s wealthiest people, and was housed in the small Cummings building at 143 S. Main Street. In 1895, the Bank built a new home for itself here. The decorative touch to... Read more

Prominent local grocer and butcher Joel Pruyn, a New York native born in 1819, had this building constructed in 1885 to house a dry goods store for his son, Judd. That same year he and his wife built a house of cream brick at 303 S. Main St... Read more

These two buildings, constructed in 1866 and 1876 by Joel Eaton, are the earliest examples of the second generation of buildings comprising Lodi’s downtown business district. The first generation of buildings that flanked Main Street begi... Read more

At this location in 1846, Isaac Palmer built the first log cabin in Lodi. Palmer was drawn to this area by the availabilty of good land, lack of settlement, and the presence of Spring Creek which could provide power for a grist mill and saw... Read more

Lodi’s first Hotel, the Briggs House, was built on this block in 1848. Isaac Palmer gave two lots to Freedom Simons in exchange for building and operating a hotel. Simons began construction in 1848 and was living in the unfinished hotel b... Read more

In 1926, local residents began to build terraced walls and stone staircases into this hillside overlooking downtown Lodi, but money soon ran out. In 1935 work resumed utilizing funding from the Civil Works Administration, a New Deal program... Read more

In the 1860s a dam was built across Spring Creek to generate power for a grist mill, creating a millpond that abutted what is now Corner Street. By 1926, the dam had fallen into disrepair and had to be removed, leaving behind an unattractiv... Read more

One of the best preserved of Lodi’s 19th century commercial buildings, Joel Pruyn built this in 1881 utilizing elements of the Romanesque Revival style, to house a grocery store for his son. In 1892, Pruyn’s son sold the building to L.P... Read more

Built in the early 2000s, the plans for Lodi’s City Hall date back nearly a century earlier. For almost 90 years, Lodi’s local government offices were housed across the street in the old City Hall Building at 113 S. Main Street, which w... Read more

Lodi owes its genesis and growth to Spring Creek. In the 1800s when settlers from Europe and the eastern states moved west, they used rivers to power machinery that ground grain into flour and sawed logs into lumber. One of these settlers, ... Read more

The Seville House was built in 1897 by Lodi’s master builder, C.C. Menes, who designed and/or built over 20 houses in Lodi. Carl Christopher Menes was born in Norway in 1870 and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1886. A self-taught architect and... Read more

The Hotel Lodi was built in 1892 by Alfred Clements, and was originally called the Clements House Hotel. This hotel served travelers coming to Lodi via the railroad, which had a stop within walking distance. The railroad originally came to ... Read more