1819: First survey

The first maps of Lodi Township were the original public land surveys done in the early to mid-19th century.

The survey of Lodi Township was started in 1815, but due to the difficult conditions some lines had to be re-run. The survey was thus completed in April 1819 by Joseph Wampler*. The survey plat map can be viewed at Seeking Michigan.  Here is the northwestern corner of the township from that survey.

What is more interesting is a the survey document that includes various descriptions of the land, available at the BLM site. In part, it describes the land along the interior section lines:

Section of original 1819 survey that shows land descriptions from our
part of Lodi Township.

Unfortunately, some of the first page is cut off, so some areas are missing. Here is the survey annotated with the survey with the relevant descriptions that are available:

The document also includes descriptions of the "bearing" or "witness" trees that marked the corners of each section; nearly all in this immediate area were white and bur oaks. We can surmise from this that our part of the township was wet prairie and open oak plains.

One of the earliest maps of the county was produced around 1842 and depicts features important to early settlers: the type of land and water features. Here we see that our portion of Lodi Township comprised of "Openings & Plains."

From "Map of Washtenaw County" circa 1842 by D. Houghton with  S.W.
Higgins and B. Hubbard. Archives of Michigan, Range 23, Unit 3, Shelf 5,
Oversize Box 35, Code 01017.

Similar openings occurred in Bridgewater Township, southwest of Lodi, and were described by Warren Miller, and early settler in the 1830s**:

"Where my father settled was called an oak opening. It was a sparsely timbered plain consisting of rich, sandy land, very productive at that time. Grass grew in great abundance all over these plains."

Researchers have taken all of the information included in these surveys, along with soil types, and other land descriptions to put together maps of pre-settlement vegetation. They are shown and discussed in the post, The land, pre-European settlement.

* A very interesting history of the orignal survey -- and its problems -- can be read in the January 1950 issue of Impressions, a publication of the Washtenaw County Historical Society (PDF here). The entire state is being re-surveyed; you can learn about local progress at the Washtenaw County Remonumentation Program web site and the Washtenaw County Road Commission.
**"Reminiscences of an  early Washtenaw settler: wolves, Indians in Bridgewater scary to boy," November 1988 Impressions, Washtenaw County Historical Society.