The population continued to grow even at the end of the Ottoman period. In “Land of Israel Almanac” (Palestine Almanac) from 1895, author Abraham Luntz notes that the city had 7,689 residents, including 5,450 Muslims, 2,180 Greek Orthodox Christians, 100 Protestants, and 14 Jews. George Adam Smith, whose data refers to 1896, writes in his book that Lod had between 7,000 and 5,000 residents, but since the gap between these two figures is large, it is difficult to obtain an accurate number from this data. The Fulton book from 1900 states that the city had 15,000 residents, but this number is certainly exaggerated. The 1904 Land of Israel Almanac indicates that the number of residents in Lod was 9,000 (of whom 6,000 were Muslims and 3,000 were Christians, divided into a Greek Orthodox majority of 2,900 and a Protestant minority of 100).The book by the delegation of “Professors of the Church of Notre Dame from France” states that the number of residents in Lod reached 7,000 in 1912 (of whom 2,000 were Christians). It seems that Luntz's data should be considered more reliable, as he was a resident of the country and, as a newspaper editor, knew more about what was going on there (it is possible that Luntz was able to obtain official data in his capacity).

From: Vakrat, Ora, 1977, Lod - Historical Geography, published by Goma and the Lod Municipality - Cherikover.

Among the factors that encouraged people to move to Lod were affordable housing and, in particular, house rentals. In 1918, a local resident noted: “For a hundred Lirot (pounds), you can become a property owner and a permanent resident of the city.”

The appearance of the city's residents continued to be unpleasant due to “nauseating eye diseases. It can be said that every person in Lod has only one eye or not even one eye.” Until 1918, there was no doctor in Lod. Residents who needed medical care were forced to walk to Ein Kara (now Rishon LeZion). The nearest pharmacy was in Ramla. In such a situation, it is no wonder that only the wealthiest residents of Lod were able to see a doctor, and even then, only after the local medical quacks had failed to help. Dr. Leon Magiero was the first doctor to arrive in Lod and serve there immediately after the British conquest of the city, but that is a story for another chapter.

From: Vakar, Ora, 1977, Lod - Historical Geography, published by Goma and the Lod Municipality - Cherikover.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, several Jews attempted to settle in Lod. In 1885, Israel Nimzovich arrived from Vienna. As he was a wealthy man, he decided to establish a modern oil factory in Lod. To this end, he ordered sophisticated presses from France, hoping that this would enable him to produce oil at a rate several times higher than the average output of the existing factory. To this end, Nimzovich invested 20,000 French Francs in the factory. However, Nimzovich did not live to see his plan come to fruition. He fell ill and was forced to transfer the factory to his successor, Fineberg, a resident of Rishon LeZion, who moved to Lod and hoped that the factory would succeed there. Like his predecessor, Fineberg was also unsuccessful. In order to save the factory from failure, he brought in an Arab Christian partner, but this too did not help, and he was forced to sell his share in the factory and leave the country.

With Fineberg's departure, the factory ceased to be Jewish-owned, but Jews did not give up on the idea of establishing an oil production factory in Lod. At the beginning of the current century, Nachum Wilbusch established an oil production factory in Ben Shemen, near Lod. The oil was produced from seeds and formed the nucleus of the “Sheman” factory, which still exists today (in Haifa).

From: Vakar, Ora, 1977, Lod - Historical Geography, published by Goma and the Lod Municipality - Chrikover.

In 1890, the “For Zion Association” attempted to establish a Jewish settlement in Lod. To this end, a flour mill was built and several shops were established. Following this attempt, Jewish craftsmen, including silversmiths, settled in the city. However, like previous efforts, this attempt was also unsuccessful. In 1893, the Jewish community in Lod numbered twenty-five people, but two years later, only fourteen remained. Shortly thereafter, only three families remained in the city, and even they were forced to go to Ramla for prayers and holidays.

Another attempt at settlement was made after the Kishinev pogroms. At that time, Jewish orphans were brought to Lod and a school called “Kiryat Sefer” was established for them under the direction of Mr. Belkind. However, due to a lack of funds to support the students, the school was forced to close. From this attempt until the beginning of the Mandate period, there was no real Jewish settlement in Lod. Only a few individuals attempted to settle in the city, but most of their attempts failed, and they left after a short time.

From: Vekert, Ora, 1977, Lod - Historical Geography, published by Goma and the Lod Municipality - Cherikover.