San Francisco-Santa Clara County CA Archives Biographies.....Lick, James 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 3, 2006, 12:06 am

Author: Eric Howard

California and Californians, Pages 35-36

	JAMES LICK.  When James Lick arrived in San Francisco in 1847 the 
population of the city was barely one thousand.  In those days the waters of 
the bay reached Montgomery Street; what is now Market Street was a high barren 
sand ridge.  Telegraph Hill was dotted with tents and shanties.
	With the discovery of gold most San Franciscans rushed to the mines.  
James Lick was one of the few who visualized the future growth of the city and 
invested a large part of his capital in sand dunes and chaparral covered 
dunes.  His first purchase in San Francisco was a large lot and adobe house at 
the corner of Montgomery and Jackson streets.
	Before coming to California, Mr. Lick had acquired a moderate fortune 
in South America.  With the influx of the ‘49ers his San Francisco holdings 
naturally increased in value.  In 1852, near San Jose, he built an elaborate 
and expensive flour mill, which was commonly called “Lick’s Folly.”  It made 
him world famous, for it produced the best flour in the West.
	He was an aloof, simple, individualistic man, who cared nothing for 
the opinion of others.  His manner of living and some of his eccentric habits 
made him known as a miser, although he was equally known for his extravagance 
along certain lines.  He had unusual ideas about the culture of fruit trees, 
believing that bones made excellent fertilizer.  Therefore, without explaining 
himself, he went about gathering up stray bones in restaurants and markets, 
which he carefully buried at the roots of his trees.  Many wild tales sprang 
up regarding his use of bones.  He was regarded as “queer,” as a miser and a 
misanthrope.  But his philanthropies will be remembered long after his 
eccentric habits are forgotten.
	He imported, at prodigious expense, rare and beautiful trees and 
shrubs from all parts of the world.  His faith in the future of San Francisco 
caused him to build a magnificent and palatial hotel, the dining room of which 
was copied from that of the palace of Versailles.
	Business man that he was, James Lick’s chief interest was in science.  
After some difficulty in selecting the best site the observatory that bears 
his name was erected at Mount Hamilton, near San Jose.  It contained the 
largest telescope then made, and was the gift of James Lick to the community 
he loved.
	Though he was considered a misanthrope by his contemporaries his will 
revealed countless bequests to charities and educational institutions.  He was 
probably quietly amused by his reputation for miserliness; it served as a 
shield to protect him from the gregariousness for which he had no liking.  He 
never resented it; yet all his life he was busy working that he might give 
what he had gathered to the world.  By Eric Howard.


Additional Comments:
California and Californians, Volume IV, Edited by Rockwell D. Hunt, A.M., 
Ph.D., Assisted By An Advisory Board, The Spanish Period, By Nellie Van de 
Grift Sanchez, The American Period, By Rockwell D. Hunt, California Biography, 
By a Special Staff of Writers, Issued in Four Volumes, The Lewis Publishing 
Company, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, 1932.

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