to
Update
() is a city located in , in the northern portion of California's central valley. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 56,999. As of a 2005 estimate, the city had a population of 62,133. The California Department of Finance's population estimate as of Jan. 1, 2008 is 63,362. Considered a part of metropolitan Stockton, in recent years it has become an increasingly popular exurb for commuters priced out of home ownership in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Lodi is best known as a center of wine production (the "Zinfandel Capital of the World"), although its vintages have traditionally been less prestigious than those of Sonoma and Napa counties. However, in recent years, the Lodi Appellation has become increasingly respected for its Zinfandel wine and other eclectic varietals. Nearby Woodbridge is the home of the well known winery, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi. Mondavi grew up in Lodi, and Mondavi Winery is considered one of the most influential in the American wine industry.
Lodi gained international attention in 2005 when local residents Hamid and Umer Hayat were arrested and charged in the first terrorism trial in the state of California.
When a group of local families decided to establish a school in 1859, they settled on a site near present-day Cherokee Lane and Turner Road. In 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad was in the process of creating a new route, and pioneer settlers Ezekiel Lawrence, Reuben Wardrobe, A.C. Ayers and John Magley offered a townsite of to the railroad as an incentive to build a station there. The railroad received a "railroad reserve" of in the middle of town, and surveyors began laying out streets in the area between Washington to Church and Locust to Walnut. Settlers flocked from nearby Woodbridge, Liberty City, and Galt, including town founders John M. Burt and Dan Crist.
Initially called Mokelumne and Mokelumne Station after the nearby river, confusion with other nearby towns prompted a name change, which was officially endorsed in Sacramento by an assembly bill. Several stories have been offered as to the origins of the town's new name. One refers to a locally stabled trotting horse that had set a four mile (6 km) record, but as the horse reached the peak of its fame in 1869, it is unlikely that the notoriety would have still been evident in 1873. Alternatively, Lodi is a place in Italy where Napoleon defeated the Austrians and won his first military victory. More than likely, some of the earliest settler families were from Lodi, Illinois, and they chose to use the same name as their hometown.
In 1906, the city was officially incorporated by voters, passing 2 to 1. The fire department was established in 1911, and the city purchased the Bay City Gas and Water Works in 1919. Additional public buildings constructed during this period include the Lodi Opera House in 1905, a Carnegie library in 1909, and a hospital in 1915.