“James Lick, San
Francisco’s Atheist Benefactor”
When visitors come to San Francisco, they usually fly in
over the James Lick Observatory, the James Lick High School and the James Lick
Mansion. Then they ride the James Lick
Freeway into the city, passing near the Lick Ladies home, the Lick-Wilmerding
High School and the James Lick Middle School to reach downtown San Francisco,
once home to the elegant block-square Lick House. Visitors may see the Lick Pioneer Monument next to the UN Plaza
and the new library. At Golden Gate
Park, they may see Lick’s Conservatory of Flowers, Lick’s ornate statue of
Francis Scott Key, and Lick’s famous Academy of Sciences. How well do today’s Atheists know this
Atheist? Probably not well enough.
From humble beginnings, James Lick became the richest man
in California. He had no wife or
children, so he simply gave his huge estate away. He is memorialized by a freeway, three schools, a world-class
telescope, prominent statues, a national historic landmark, the Conservatory of
Flowers, and more.
He was also a strong Atheist. He was not a great Atheist speaker or writer. Like most of us, his Atheism was simply a
part of him, and he was a strong supporter of Atheist causes throughout his
amazing 80-year life.
James Lick was born to German immigrants in Pennsylvania,
August 25, 1796, when America was just 20 years old. His father fought in the Revolution under George Washington.
After an ordinary education, he moved to Baltimore to
become an apprentice carpenter and organ maker. He apparently learned quickly.
At age 24, he went into the piano making business, but was not very
successful. He wanted to marry his
pregnant girlfriend, but was forbidden to do so by her father. So he left the US. He talked a ship captain into giving him passage to South America
in exchange for installing a piano in his ship. In South America, he became very successful, exporting fine
pianos back to the new United States and to Europe.
In 1847, at age 51, he came to the new city of San
Francisco, with $30,000 in gold to invest.
He liked the new city, and bought land where he thought the city might
grow. When the Gold Rush came 2 years
later, James Lick’s carefully chosen property soared in value. He built the extremely fine “Lick House”
hotel on an entire square block of Montgomery Street, of which nothing survives
today. James Lick lived in his hotel,
in a small plain room.
James Lick was a lifetime member of the Thomas Paine
Society in Boston. Tom Paine Societies
were strong Atheist groups in early America.
In 1876, San Francisco planned a major celebration of America’s 100th
birthday. A prominent local artist
painted a portrait of Thomas Paine to carry in the parade. But the Centennial Committee refused to
allow a painting of Thomas Paine in the parade. The artist appealed to James Lick, who said, “If they will not
march with Paine, they shall march under him.”
He hung the large Tom Paine painting on a rope stretched from his Lick
House to the building across the street, forcing the entire parade to march
under it.
At one point, James Lick owned all of Catalina
Island, 26 miles offshore from Los Angeles.
Like many wealthy San Francisco businessmen, James
Lick also built an expensive home on the peninsula, which was often called
“Lick’s Folly” because of his large investment. The James Lick Mansion is a nationally registered
historical landmark, one of only 2 in the City of Santa Clara. It is located next to the Guadalupe River,
off Montague at 554 Mansion Park Drive, Santa Clara, and marked with a
historical sign facing the street.
James Lick was a master builder and woodworking craftsman, and his
24-room home with a fireplace in every room showed off his skills. But although he enjoyed building it, it was
so elegant that he disliked living in it, and he moved into one of the plain
worker’s cottages on his mansion grounds. He added a “high-tech” river-powered
flourmill, which made large profits, as Lick Flour became well known as one of
the best in California. On the grounds
surrounding the mansion, he planted exotic plants imported from South America
and around the world, and people toured his famous gardens. In 1872, he directed the mill to be sold,
and the proceeds used to build Thomas Paine Memorial Hall in Boston. Today, the James Lick Mansion is surrounded
by “Mansion Grove,” a modern upscale apartment complex with swimming pool and
clubhouse, built on the previous mansion grounds. The original Lick Mansion and circular redbrick Granary are owned
and maintained by Santa Clara County.
It is now used to house a non-profit health care agency.
James Lick wanted an impressive burial monument, and
proposed a pyramid tomb in downtown San Francisco. Fortunately, friends persuaded him instead to increase human
knowledge by building the world’s biggest telescope. Lick Observatory, on top of 4,209-foot Mount Hamilton
southeast of San Jose, is world-famous for historical and scientific
reasons. Endowed by James Lick with a
massive $700,000 grant, it is now owned by the University of California of
Santa Cruz (UCSC). Built a century and
a quarter ago to be the most powerful telescope in the world, it still works
fine today. Famous astronomers have
used this telescope to make many significant discoveries. The 54-foot long telescope carries a 36-inch
diameter glass lens, not a modern mirror, and despite its size and weight it
still pivots smoothly. It is suspended
in the middle by a large concrete pylon base, which entombs the remains of James
Lick and displays a suitable plaque mounted near the telescope’s pivot
point. The rotating telescope dome roof
sits on sturdy walls whose interior surface is decorated with elegant redwood
paneling recalling James Lick’s carpentry skills. A modern 120-inch telescope was recently built nearby on the same
peak, but astronomers still like to use the old 36-incher to get a big picture
of an area of the sky before boring in on the details with the big
120-incher. Interesting to Atheists is
the fact that Atheist James Lick’s lifetime monument sits on a peak named in a
brief outing by a Methodist minister. Rev. Hamilton’s bust shares the Lick
Observatory site, but he’s out in the back yard! Additional information about tours, a map and more are on the
website www.ucolick.org. James Lick would be proud to know his
monument is on the Internet.
--- More of James Lick’s
Legacy ---
James Lick Freeway, 10 miles long and
8 lanes wide, is the main highway US-101 coming into San Francisco from the
south, connecting the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to downtown San
Francisco.
Lick-Wilmerding High School
at 755 Ocean, adjacent to the I-280 freeway, is a combination of the former
James Lick Mechanical Arts School and another similar school named
Wilmerding. James Lick’s personal
workbench, brought from South America in 1847, is displayed in the hallway
right inside the front door of the school.
James Lick Middle School
at 1220 Noe Avenue is a well-maintained white concrete structure covering an
entire city block. It has also served
as a high school.
James Lick High School at
57 N. White Road, San Jose, CA is the newest Lick site. Built in the 1950s, it is about 7 miles from
the Lick Mansion, on a site adjoining Alum Rock Road, on the way to the James
Lick Observatory. Posted prominently in
the main entry is a bronze plaque extolling James Lick’s concern for freedom
and education. The large school serves
a diverse 1400-student body, drawn from both the wealthy foothills and the poor
flatlands of San Jose. A nearby golf
course in the foothills allows student teams to practice there, so James Lick
is one of the few schools where poor Hispanic students can compete on a high
school golf team. More info is at www.JLHS.com.
Famous JLHS alumni:
·
Willie T. Ribbs, the only African American ever to drive in
the Indianapolis 500, now racing under the sponsorship of entertainer Bill
Cosby
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park is
an ornate, Victorian-style, glass-enclosed building built to display rare
plants of the world. Initially endowed
by James Lick, it was undoubtedly supplied in large part by rare plants from his
Lick Mansion. Although the Conservatory
of Flowers is now closed for restoration, it is still worthwhile to visit. Large beautiful flower gardens surround it,
as well.
Francis Scott Key,
author of “The Star Spangled Banner,” is remembered by a large, ornate statue
patriotically commissioned by James Lick for $60,000 in Golden Gate Park,
adjacent to the California Academy of Sciences, which was also partially funded
by James Lick.
The Lick Old Ladies Home at 350 University Street
was built in 1884 with a $100,000 grant from the Lick estate. Renamed the University Mound Ladies Home, it
is located in the University Mound neighborhood, in the southeast corner of the
City, not far from the James Lick Freeway and Candlestick football park. The original wooden building has been
replaced with a large elegant brick home, which is home to several hundred
women. It operates “on a
non-discriminatory basis,” but even James Lick couldn’t live there, because it
excludes men.
The Pioneer Monument at Fulton & Hyde in
San Francisco is an ornate, massively complex group of 5 bronze and stone
statues, commemorating pioneers who built San Francisco, including the early
Native Americans, Spanish missions, pioneers, Gold Rush miners, and James Lick,
of course. The sculptor was Frank
Happersberger, 1859-1932, who created many lifelike statues throughout San
Francisco. It must be one of the most
significant statues in the City, because it has been given 3 different
prominent locations. It is now
displayed beside the new library, directly between the City Hall and the United
Nations Plaza, site of the signing of the UN Charter. James Lick would be proud to know that his name now stands in
company with world leaders spanning 3 centuries. A bronze plaque at the statue reads as follows:
“Dedicated to the City of San Francisco
on November 29, 1894, the Pioneer Monument was a gift of philanthropist James
Lick. Lick, who died in 1876, left
$100,000 to the city for the creation of “statuary emblematic of the
significant epochs in California history” dating back to the missions’ early
settlement. The monument stood in
Marshall Square, facing Market Street in front of the Old City Hall that was
completed in 1887 but destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. When the City was rebuilt after the
earthquake, Grove and Hyde Streets were extended to meet Market Street,
creating a new intersection. The
Pioneer Monument stood at this intersection until it was moved to its present
location in 1993.”
-----
Additional
James Lick information is available at the American Atheists website
www.atheists.org/atheism/roots/lick
and
in a recently updated book by Madalyn Murray O’Hair which is sold through
American Atheists Press.