James Lick - Early years, South American years, California years, Lick's legacy

Financier and philanthropist, born in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, USA. A piano-maker by training, he spent many years in South America (1820–37) and then moved to San Francisco. He made a fortune in the real-estate boom there and gave much of his fortune to public purposes. Most notably he left $700 000 to produce the most powerful telescope made to that date, and to house it he founded the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara, CA.

Early years

James Lick was born in Stumpstown (now Fredericksburg) Pennsylvania on August 25, 1796. When he was twenty one, after a failed romance with Barbara Snavely, Lick left Stumpstown for Baltimore, Maryland, where he learned the art of piano making. In 1821 Lick moved to Argentina, after learning that his pianos were being exported to South America.

South American years

Lick found his time in Buenos Aires to be difficult, due to his ignorance of Spanish and the turbulent political situation in the country.

In 1832, Lick decided to return to Stumpstown.

In 1846, Lick decided to return to North America and, anticipating the Mexican-American War and the future annexation of California, he decided to settle there.

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.

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.

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.

Following the construction, Lick returned to his San Jose orchards. James Lick was the richest man in California.

In the next three years, Lick spent his time determining how to dispense with his fortune. However, through the efforts of George Davidson, President of the California Academy of 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. Lick approved, on the condition that Santa Clara County build a "first class" road to the site.

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.

Lick's legacy

Lick's will stipulated that all of his fortune should be used for the public good, including $700,000 for the building of the observatory. In 1888, Lick Observatory was completed and given to the University of California as the Lick Astronomical Department. In 1887 Lick's body was buried under the future site of the telescope, with a brass tablet bearing the inscription, "Here lies the body of James Lick." In 1884, the Lick Old Ladies Home in San Francisco was established with a grant from the Lick estate. The Conservatory of Flowers and the statue of Francis Scott Key in Golden Gate Park were donated to San Francisco by Lick. The Pioneer Monument in front of San Francisco's City Hall was donated by Lick to the city. James Lick High School in San Jose and James Lick Middle School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, and the U.S. Route 101, all in San Francisco, are named in his honor. The Lick crater on the Moon and the asteroid 1951 Lick are named after him.

Lickdale, Pennsylvania, a village approximately 3 miles west of Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania (formerly Stumpstown), was named for James Lick.

A large monument to James Lick was erected by the local citizens in the community cemetery in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania.