Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a trust from James Lick. George Merrill was hired to manage the school as the first director, and Lick, as the school was informally known, officially opened in January, 1895. George Merrill was the director of Lick until 1939, and later also the director of the Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts and the Lux School for Industrial Training for Girls, which were both located immediately adjacent to the Lick campus at 17th Street & Potrero Avenue in the Mission District. In the early 1950s, The California School of Mechanical arts and the Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts merged to become Lick-Wilmerding High School. The Lux School later closed, and its students joined Lick-Wilmerding. Lick-Wilmerding High School moved to a new campus at 755 Ocean Avenue in 1956.