Ripley's Believe It or Not is preparing to close its long-running San Francisco museum before the end of 2026, another tourist fixture vanishing from a Fisherman's Wharf already shedding old businesses.
The oddities museum at 175 Jefferson Street has drawn visitors for nearly six decades with more than 400 artifacts and a 2,000-square-foot mirror maze. Now the company says the doors will shut sometime before the end of 2026, with the exact final day still to be set.
Daily Mail reporting describes the move as part of a broader retreat of attractions and restaurants from the waterfront district, not a snap decision tied to one crisis.
Ripley's president Jim Pattison Jr said the company expects the museum to close sometime before the end of 2026 and will announce the precise date once it is finalized. A company spokesperson told SFGATE the choice was not prompted by "one single challenge or event." It came after leaders looked at the changing landscape of Fisherman's Wharf and what made sense for Ripley's going forward.
The Fisherman's Wharf location opened on February 2, 1967. It became a staple of a waterfront known for seafood counters, souvenir shops, and tourist foot traffic.
Ripley's still runs 26 museums around the world. The San Francisco site sits in a roughly 13,366-square-foot space that is already being marketed for lease. Possible uses include retail, restaurants, entertainment, or other tourist-oriented tenants.
Before the lights go out, the company plans to sell a selection of exhibits with special ties to the city. Items expected to go up for grabs include crutches once belonging to baseball great Joe DiMaggio, a chicken-wire portrait of singer Janis Joplin, a model of the Golden Gate Bridge built on the head of a pin, and toothpick versions of the landmark.
Over the decades the museum welcomed famous visitors such as Michael Jackson, Joe DiMaggio, and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. The brand's promise has long been the odd, the unusual, and the just plain weird.
Founder Robert Ripley began his career in San Francisco in 1909, working for the San Francisco Bulletin. He later showed early versions of his unusual collection at the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in 1939 and 1940.
The company eventually opened several attractions around Fisherman's Wharf, including a Guinness World Records museum and a magic shop, before settling into the current museum. An Optimus Prime Transformer statue made from recycled vehicles by artist Anchalee and her team in Thailand is among the kinds of spectacles tied to the Ripley's world.
Pattison left the door cracked for a future return. "While we're saying goodbye to this location, we're not necessarily saying goodbye to San Francisco," he said. "With Ripley's, you never know. We might just be back!"
The Ripley's exit fits a clear pattern. Madame Tussauds closed its wax museum in October 2024. The San Francisco Dungeon shut down in 2021. The Cartoon Art Museum closed its Fisherman's Wharf gallery in August, leaving the 42-year-old institution without a public gallery in the city.
Restaurants have taken hits too. Alioto's began as a fish stand in 1925, closed during the pandemic, and never reopened. Its former building was demolished this year and replaced with a public gathering space overlooking the harbor. Fishermen's Grotto No. 9 was evicted over more than $332,000 in back rent, and that site is being redeveloped.
Company leaders did not pin the museum closure on a single villain or one bad quarter. They pointed to the changing landscape of the wharf and a hard look at what still works for the brand. The result is the same: another long-running draw is preparing to leave, exhibits are headed for sale, and a large tourist space is on the market.
San Francisco can keep selling cable-car posters and waterfront views. It is having a harder time keeping the quirky, cash-paying attractions that once made the wharf feel like a destination instead of a turnover zone.