Lodi Facts

If this is your first time visiting, here are a few, quick facts to give you some background:

• A major winegrape growing region, Lodi is known as the zinfandel capital of the world. More than 75,000 acres of land in the Lodi-Woodbridge area are dedicated to growing wine grapes. Today, it is the state’s most productive growing region for premium wine grapes, producing an average of 350,000 tons of fruit annually.

• The Lodi-Woodbridge area is home to about a dozen wineries, big and small. Many have tastings available, either regularly scheduled in tasting rooms or by appointment.

• In the pre-grape years, Lodi was a top watermelon growing area.

• A Lodi claim to fame is A&W root beer. Concocted by local druggist Roy Allen, the nationally known drink was first served up on Pine Street for a WWI victory parade on June 4, 1919. In 1999, A&W and city officials orchestrated the creation of what was billed the world’s largest root beer float. It contained 2,100 gallons of root beer and 400 gallons of ice cream. It weighed about 12 tons and had about 60,000 calories.

• Another beverage that got its start in Lodi was California Cooler. The popular blend of fruit juice and wine was mixed by Michael Crete and Stewart Bewley in 1980. The duo sold the company for a reported $55 million five years later.

• Another invention: The Super Mold tire retreader was developed here in 1927, and its parent company, Super Mold, flourished on Sacramento Street for five decades thereafter.

• Lodi’s arch, at Pine and Sacramento streets, is one of two marking the entries to downtown Lodi. The second, built in 1998, is at School Street and Lodi Avenue. The Pine Street arch was erected in 1907 to celebrate the Tokay Carnival, the predecessor to the annual Lodi Grape Festival. It is believed to one of the oldest standing archways in California.

• Near the hamlet of Woodbridge, just north of Lodi, once stood what is reputed to have been the country’s largest fig tree. The tree spread for more than an acre and produced a ton of fruit in a good year. It was memorialized in Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the popular newspaper feature.

• Lodi was once home to pioneer suffragist Laura DeForce Gordon. A gifted orator, Gordon lectured on women’s suffrage throughout the region and in 1870 contributed to the founding of the California Woman Suffrage Society. In the 1870s, she became the first woman to own and edit a daily newspaper. She was also the second woman admitted to practice law in the state of California, and the second woman to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court. She died in Lodi on April 5, 1907.

• Lodi is among only a handful of cities in California to own and operate its own electric utility. Several million dollars are generated each year from the utility, which helps to support police, fire, parks and other city services.



Contents • Bicycle Tours • Business Traveler • Downtown Lodi • Downtown Lodi Dining • Downtown Lodi Shopping • Family Activities • Farmers Market • Galt Market • Golf • Hill House • Hutchins Street Square • Lodi Arch • Lodi-area Events • Lodi Facts • Lodi Street Faire • Museums • Rae House • Sacramento Street • Sandhill Crane Festival • Wineries • Wines • Younger Generation
		Lodi quick facts By News-Sentinel staff New to Lodi? If this is your first time visiting, here are a few, quick facts to give you some background: • Lodi covers an area of 10.64 square miles. Its elevation is 51 feet above sea level. The city’s population, as of January 1999, stands at 56,926. Under a cap established by the city, Lodi grows by about 2 percent per year or less. • By ancestry, Lodi’s two largest ethnic groups are Germans and Latinos. • A major winegrape growing region, Lodi is known as the zinfandel capital of the world. More than 75,000 acres of land in the Lodi-Woodbridge area are dedicated to growing wine grapes. Today, it is the state’s most productive growing region for premium wine grapes, producing an average of 350,000 tons of fruit annually. • The Lodi-Woodbridge area is home to about a dozen wineries, big and small. Many have tastings available, either regularly scheduled in tasting rooms or by appointment. • In the pre-grape years, Lodi was a top watermelon growing area. • A Lodi claim to fame is A&W root beer. Concocted by local druggist Roy Allen, the nationally known drink was first served up on Pine Street for a WWI victory parade on June 4, 1919. In 1999, A&W and city officials orchestrated the creation of what was billed the world’s largest root beer float. It contained 2,100 gallons of root beer and 400 gallons of ice cream. It weighed about 12 tons and had about 60,000 calories. • Another beverage that got its start in Lodi was California Cooler. The popular blend of fruit juice and wine was mixed by Michael Crete and Stewart Bewley in 1980. The duo sold the company for a reported $55 million five years later. • Another invention: The Super Mold tire retreader was developed here in 1927, and its parent company, Super Mold, flourished on Sacramento Street for five decades thereafter. • Lodi’s arch, at Pine and Sacramento streets, is one of two marking the entries to downtown Lodi. The second, built in 1998, is at School Street and Lodi Avenue. The Pine Street arch was erected in 1907 to celebrate the Tokay Carnival, the predecessor to the annual Lodi Grape Festival. It is believed to one of the oldest standing archways in California. • Near the hamlet of Woodbridge, just north of Lodi, once stood what is reputed to have been the country’s largest fig tree. The tree spread for more than an acre and produced a ton of fruit in a good year. It was memorialized in Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the popular newspaper feature. • Lodi was once home to pioneer suffragist Laura DeForce Gordon. A gifted orator, Gordon lectured on women’s suffrage throughout the region and in 1870 contributed to the founding of the California Woman Suffrage Society. In the 1870s, she became the first woman to own and edit a daily newspaper. She was also the second woman admitted to practice law in the state of California, and the second woman to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court. She died in Lodi on April 5, 1907. • Lodi is among only a handful of cities in California to own and operate its own electric utility. Several million dollars are generated each year from the utility, which helps to support police, fire, parks and other city services.
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