About UsThe Town of Lodi is located in the southwest corner of Columbia County in south-central Wisconsin. It is bordered by the Town of Dekorra on the north, the Town of Arlington on the east, the Town of Dane (in Dane County) on the south and the Town of West Point on the west. The entire City of Lodi is surrounded by the Town of Lodi. See the Town of Lodi in Google Maps. The Wisconsin Department of Administration estimated the Town's population to be 3,296 . The Town of Lodi continues to be one of the fastest
growing areas in Columbia County and ranks third in the County by
population after the City of Portage and then the City of Columbus. See Columbia County's County Profile page for more.
Most of the acres in the Town are rolling hills of undeveloped agricultural and forest land with scattered rural residences, some development clusters and some urban areas adjacent to the City of Lodi. The exception is the much more densely populated communities of Okee and Harmony Grove. These two unincorporated hamlets are located along the shores of Lake Wisconsin in the Town's northwest corner and are home to the majority of its population. The northwest corner of the Town has an extensive waterfront boundary formed by the meandering shores of Lake Wisconsin. Today's "natural" shore land of Lake Wisconsin is actually the end result of impounding the Wisconsin River roughly one mile north of the Village of Prairie du Sac. That happened in September 1914 when the Prairie du Sac Dam and hydroelectric facility was completed. Okee and the surrounding area changed dramatically over several years as the rising river water gradually and permanently flooded the wetlands of Rowan Creek and the Okee millpond, ultimately creating Lake Wisconsin. Okee became a lakefront community of seasonal cottages. Harmony Grove appeared soon after and followed a similar path. The Okee and Harmony Grove Sanitary Districts were created to replace the concentrated number of septic systems that would otherwise be needed to serve the high population density living along environmentally sensitive shore land.
In the latter part of the century the Town began to see an increasing amount of growth and development. Over the last few decades, both Okee and Harmony Grove have evolved from mostly small seasonal cottages to primarily new or rebuilt permanent residences and condominiums. The Town now faces the daily challenge of managing this growth and development pressure while attempting to preserve its valued rural character and protecting its many natural resources, including wetlands, woodlands, creeks, streams, lake and river. About Towns & Town GovernmentFor information about Towns and Town Government, please see the Civics page. History of the Town of LodiFor more information about the history of the Town of Lodi, Okee and Harmony Grove, please see the History page.
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