James Lick was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. The wealthiest man in California at the time of his death, Lick left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.

The Pioneer Monument is a granite monument supporting bronze figures and reliefs created by Frank Happersberger and financed by the estate of James Lick. It is located on Fulton Street between Hyde and Larkin streets in the Civic Center of San Francisco, California, next to the San Francisco Public Library. It was dedicated on November 29, 1894. A highly controversial component, Early Days, was removed in 2018.