Compendium of
Historic Resources
in and around Lodi
Title
Date
1845
Location
Near Tretheway Road on the Mokelumne River in Lockeford, CA
Description
Staples Ferry was the first settlement on the Mokelumne River. It became famous when Captain John C. Fremont crossed the Mokelumne River at this point in 1845. The ferry became popular since it was on the direct trail from Sutter’s Fort to San Jose.
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Title
Date
1849
Location
Thornton Road on the Mokelumne River in Thornton, CA
Description
Benson's Ferry was established in 1849 and was purchased by John A. Benson in 1850. In 1852, Benson laid out the then-principal wagon road between Sacramento and Stockton. The ferry was at the old Lower Sacramento Road (Franklin route) crossing, northeast of New Hope (now Thornton).
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Title
Date
1850
Location
About 14 miles northwest of Lodi and 3 miles north of Thornton. Mokelumne City was sited approximately 200 feet north of the intersection of Cameron Road and Thornton Road.
Description
When Mokelumne City was established in 1850, its prospects were bright. It was the second largest town in the county and it had deep water communication with San Francisco year-round, an advantage not possessed by any other town in the county except Stockton. Sadly, the floods of 1862 destroyed the town.
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Title
Date
1851
Location
Situated in San Joaquin County along the Mokelumne River, the town of Lockeford lies approximately 7 miles east of Lodi, 16 miles northeast of Stockton, and 40 miles south of Sacramento.
Description
In 1851 brothers Dean and Elmer Locke bought 320 acres of the Andres Pico Mexican Grant from David J. Staples and founded, “...a great town free of alcohol and a home for God fearing people.” Vice arrived not long after but prosperity was delayed until the completion of the San Joaquin Sierra Nevada narrow-gauge railroad brought booming commerce to Lockeford.
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Title
Date
1852
1858
Location
19960 North Elliott Road, Locke CA
Description
The Locke House began as a small log cabin that housed Dean Locke when he arrived in California but was soon remodeled when he brought his wife, Delia Hammond, to live with him on his ranch. This little cabin in the San Joaquin Valley was transformed into a homey frame house in 1858. The barn (c. 1852), house (c. 1858) and water tower (c. 1887) were the first structures to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in San Joaquin County.
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Title
Date
1852
Location
2 Academy Street, Lodi CA
Description
Woodbridge Masonic Cemetery is a historically significant burial ground used exclusively for Masons and their families, featuring monuments dating back to the mid-1800s. The earliest burial recorded was in 1852 and it is the final resting place of several early founders of Woodbridge and Lodi.
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Title
Date
1856
Location
Mackville Road at Magee Park
Description
In the early 1850s, B. F. Langford built a sawmill at the Benedict ferry north of Victor. In 1854 Hodge and David Terry moved the sawmill to their ranch and added a flour mill and store, which burned down in July of 1856, It was rebuilt of stone at its present site just north of the Clements bridge. The first load of wheat was ground at the new mill in March 1857. It was purchased by S.L. Magee in 1860 and was operated by him for the next 25 years at which time it was abandoned due to lack of business.
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Title
Woodbridge
Date
1859
Location
Centered about 4 miles northwest of downtown Lodi along the Lower Sacramento Road corridor, immediately across the Mokelumne River.
Description
Woodbridge was first established in 1852 when Jeremiah H. Woods and Alexander McQueen started a Mokelumne River ferry. In 1858 Woods replaced the ferry with a wooden toll bridge (Woods' Bridge), from which the town gets its name and in April of 1859 the town was officially surveyed and recorded. Originally Woodbridge was a booming river crossing and agricultural hub, but its growth stalled when the Central Pacific Railroad bypassed it in 1869 in favor of nearby Lodi.
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Title
Date
1912
Location
114 N Main Street, Lodi CA
Description
In 1912 Lodi built its first municipal building to house all of its city departments including public works, police and fire as well as an assembly hall for its trustees to meet and conduct Lodi's business.
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Title
Date
1917
Location
139 S Crescent Ave, Lodi CA
Description
In 1917 a Craftsman home was built near downtown Lodi that housed a number of characters and luminaries in the early days of Lodi, including the very first Queen Zinfandel, Bertha de Almado.
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