LODI in Dick Johnson Township
by Emma LAWSON THOMPSON

Lodi was and to some extent still is a small town in the northern part of Dick Johnson Township. It consisted of a school, a church, and probably a couple dozen houses. It never had a post office, which allowed for the existence of another Lodi in northern Parke County.

The Lodi Christian Church was organized in 1835 and meetings were held in the school with about thirty members. Job and Michael COMBS were the first preachers and held the job for a number of years. In 1873 the congregation built a church building at a cost of about $1,300 both the school and the church are long gone.

The Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad was built in 1869-70 and ran just to the north of Lodi. The miners used the tracks to walk to and from jobs in the mines. The tracks are still there and still busy, but the Indianapolis and St. Louis railroad is but a faint memory.

Some names associated with Lodi in 1900 are ARCHER, BEMIS, CAMPBELL, GRAYLESS, MARIETTA, SNOW, SPOOR and SPOORS (father and son who didn’t agree on spelling, WILLIAMS, and more whose names I’m sure I’ve never known. My mother was born and went to school in Lodi.