TOWN OF LODI

Inscription

TOWN OF LODI
EST. BY NYS LEGISLATIVE ACT
PASSED ON JANUARY 27, 1826.
FIRST TOWN MEETING HELD ON
MARCH 7, 1826 AT HOME OF FIRST
TOWN CLERK, JOHN INGERSOLL.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2023

On January 27, 1826, the Town of Lodi, New York was established by an act of the New York State legislature. The act split off a portion of the Town of Covert (originally a part of the military township of Ovid) to make the independent Town of Lodi. Lodi’s first town meeting was held on March 7, 1826 at the home of the first town clerk, John Ingersoll. Situated near the mid-point of the east side of Seneca Lake, the town’s early settlements included two churches (Dutch Reformed and Methodist), seven merchants, a hotel, post office, and various shops.

In the mid-19^th century to early-20^th century, Lodi became a thriving center of activity for the southern end of Seneca County. The Lehigh Valley Railway built a station in Lodi, through which both goods and passengers were transported. Lodi Station soon became a major hub of commerce in and out of the region, bolstering trade for local farmers and millers. Vescelius Hall, the center of many community events, concerts, and festivals. A rare mastodon skeleton, including five intact teeth, was famously unearthed in 1891 at a local farm. Lodi is also home to the historic site Queen’s Castle, which is the last surviving structure of Fossenvue, the summer camp of suffragist Elizabeth Smith Miller and now part of the Finger Lakes National Forest.

After the great fire of 1913 in which half of the business district of Lodi was lost, the town declined and never fully recovered the same level of commerce and culture it once enjoyed. The Lehigh Valley Railroad station was torn down in 1956 and the last train passed through Lodi at midnight on March 31, 1976. Lodi is now a venue convenient to a variety of parks and recreation, including the Seneca Wine Trail and the Finger Lakes National Forest. The historical marker is located at the site of the former First Presbyterian Church of Lodi, which as of June of 2023 is the Lodi Town Hall, court for Lodi and Ovid, and a food pantry.