James Lick

==California years==

==California years==

[[File:James Lick bust.jpg|right|thumb|James Lick's bust at the [[Lick Observatory]]]]

[[File:James Lick bust.jpg|right|thumb|James Lick's bust at the [[Lick Observatory]]]]

Lick arrived in [[San Francisco, California]], in January 1848, bringing with him his tools, work bench, $30,000 in [[gold]] (as of 2026, would be valued at over $8 million), and 600 pounds (275 kilograms) of [[chocolate]]. The chocolate quickly sold, so Lick sent back word convincing his friend and neighbor in [[Peru]], the [[confectioner]] [[Domingo Ghirardelli]], to move to San Francisco, where he founded the [[Ghirardelli Chocolate Company]].{{cite web|url = http://www.ghirardelli.com/about/history.aspx|title = The Ghirardelli Story – A Rich Heritage|publisher = Ghirardelli Chocolate|access-date = 2008-09-09|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090120124102/http://www.ghirardelli.com/about/history.aspx|archive-date = 2009-01-20}}

Lick arrived in [[San Francisco, California]], in January 1848, bringing with him his tools, work bench, $30,000 in [[gold]] (as of 2026, this amount of gold is worth over $8 million), and 600 pounds (275 kilograms) of [[chocolate]]. The chocolate quickly sold, so Lick sent back word convincing his friend and neighbor in [[Peru]], the [[confectioner]] [[Domingo Ghirardelli]], to move to San Francisco, where he founded the [[Ghirardelli Chocolate Company]].{{cite web|url = http://www.ghirardelli.com/about/history.aspx|title = The Ghirardelli Story – A Rich Heritage|publisher = Ghirardelli Chocolate|access-date = 2008-09-09|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090120124102/http://www.ghirardelli.com/about/history.aspx|archive-date = 2009-01-20}}

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, California|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 got a touch of "gold fever" and sought to mine the metal, but after a week 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, California|San Jose]], where he planted [[orchard]]s and built the largest [[grist mill|flour mill]] in the state. He invited his son to join him there in 1854; however, the younger Lick suffered from poor health and returned to Pennsylvania in 1863.

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, California|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 got a touch of "gold fever" and sought to mine the metal, but after a week 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, California|San Jose]], where he planted [[orchard]]s and built the largest [[grist mill|flour mill]] in the state. He invited his son to join him there in 1854; however, the younger Lick suffered from poor health and returned to Pennsylvania in 1863.