James Lick

:For the high school named after Lick, see James Lick High School.

California years

Lick arrived in San Francisco, California, in January 1848, bringing with him his tools, work bench, $30,000 in gold, and 600 pounds (300 kg) of chocolate. The chocolate quickly sold, and Lick convinced his neighbor in Peru, the confectioner Domingo Ghirardelli, to move to San Francisco, where he founded the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.

Related Topics:
San Francisco, California - 1848 - Gold - Chocolate - Peru - Confectioner - Domingo Ghirardelli - Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Upon his arrival, Lick began buying real estate in the small village of San Francisco. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento a few days after Lick's arrival in the future state began the California gold rush and created a housing boom in San Francisco, which grew from about one thousand residents in 1848 to over twenty thousand by 1850. Lick himself got a touch of "gold fever" and went out to mine the metal, but after a week he decided his fortune was to be made by owning land, not digging in it. Lick continued buying land in San Francisco, and also began buying farmland in and around San Jose, where he planted orchards and built the largest flour mill in the state to feed the growing population in San Francisco.

Related Topics:
Real estate - Sutter's Mill - Sacramento - California gold rush - 1850 - San Jose - Orchard - Flour - Mill

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1861, Lick began construction of a hotel, which became known as Lick House, at the intersection of Mongomery and Sutter Streets in San Francisco. The hotel had a dining room that could seat 400, based on a similar room at the palace of Versailles. Lick House was considered the finest hotel west of the Mississippi River. The hotel was destroyed in the fire following the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Related Topics:
1861 - Hotel - Versailles - Mississippi River - San Francisco earthquake of 1906

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following the construction, Lick returned to his San Jose orchards. In 1874, Lick suffered a massive stroke in the kitchen of his home in Santa Clara. The following morning, he was found by his employee, Thomas Fraser, and taken to Lick House, where he could be better cared for. At the time of his illness, his estates, outside his considerable area in Santa Clara County and San Francisco, included large holdings around Lake Tahoe, a large ranch in Los Angeles County, and all of Santa Catalina Island. James Lick was the richest man in California.

Related Topics:
1874 - Stroke - Santa Clara - Thomas Fraser - Santa Clara County - Lake Tahoe - Ranch - Los Angeles County - Santa Catalina Island

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the next three years, Lick spent his time determining how to dispense with his fortune. He originally wanted to build giant statues of himself and his parents, and erect a pyramid larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in his own honor in Downtown San Francisco. However, through the efforts of George Davidson, President of the California Academy of the Sciences, Lick was persuaded to leave the greatest portion of his fortune to the establishment of a mountain top observatory, with the largest, most powerful telescope yet built by man. Lick had had an interest in astronomy since at least 1860, when he and George Madeira, the founder of the first observatory in California, spent several nights observing. They had also met again in 1873 and Lick said the Madeira's telescopes were the only ones he had ever used. In 1875, Thomas Fraser recommended a site at the summit of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose. Lick approved, on the condition that Santa Clara County build a "first class" road to the site. The county agreed and the hand built road was completed by the fall of 1876.

Related Topics:
Pyramid - Great Pyramid of Giza - George Davidson - California Academy of the Sciences - Observatory - Telescope - 1860 - George Madeira - 1873 - 1875 - Summit - Mount Hamilton - 1876

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On October 1, 1876, Lick died in his room in Lick House, San Francisco. In 1887, his body was moved to its final resting place, under the future home of the Great Lick Refracting Telescope.

Related Topics:
October 1 - 1876 - 1887

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~