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| Landmark #931 | San Joaquin County | Visited: March 21, 2015 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A white arch leading into the historic heart of Lodi! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: Designed by architect E. B. Brown and built in 1907 for the Lodi Tokay Carnival, the arch served as an entrance into Lodi and a symbol of agricultural and commercial growth. Essentially unaltered since construction, the structure is one of few remaining Mission Revival ceremonial arches left within California.
OTHER TIDBITS: Tokay grapes came from the Tokaj region of Hungary and did remarkably well in the Lodi area, so the farmers of Lodi dug up their watermelons and replaced them with Tokay grapes! In celebration of these flame red table grapes, the people of Lodi assembled an army of volunteers to deck out the town in vines and grapes. They constructed the Lodi Arch for $800 and crowned Bertha DeAlmado the first, and only, Queen Zinfandel! The event brought 30,000 visitors to the town of Lodi and was a huge success, except that it left the town $500 in debt. For this reason, the festival was never repeated, and the Tokay grape faded into obscurity, pushed out by seedless varieties! However, there is still an annual Grape Festival in Lodi, and rumor has it you can still find rare Tokay grapes for sale by street vendors! This landmark is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: SE corner of E Pine and S Sacramento Sts Lodi, CA 95240 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~352mi (567km) — 5.9hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |
