Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is closing its San Francisco Odditorium on Fisherman’s Wharf before the end of 2026, after 59 years at 175 Jefferson Street. Company president Jim Pattison Jr. announced the decision on 22 September 2026. No final day has been set.
When Does Ripley’s San Francisco Actually Close?
Ripley’s has not named a date. The company said only that the attraction would shut “sometime before the end of the year”, with the exact day to be finalised and announced later.
That matters for anyone planning a visit. In the two weeks after the 22 September announcement, no closing date had been published, and as of 6 October 2026 the attraction was still selling admission. Ticket resellers and travel listings were also still describing it as an ongoing attraction, which is the most common way visitors are being caught out.
If you want to see it, the practical advice from the announcement itself is that the window is measured in weeks or months, not years.
Why Is It Closing?
Ripley’s has declined to give a single reason. A company spokesperson said the decision came from a general reassessment rather than one event.
“It really wasn’t one single challenge or event that led to the decision,” the spokesperson said. “After nearly 60 years at this location, we took a broader look at the attraction, the changing landscape of Fisherman’s Wharf and what makes sense for Ripley’s moving forward. Ultimately, we decided the time was right to close this location.”
Pattison’s own message was warmer and no more specific. “For nearly 60 years, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! has been part of the fabric of Fisherman’s Wharf,” he wrote, adding that while the company was “saying goodbye to this location”, it was “not necessarily saying goodbye to San Francisco”. He ended with a hint rather than a plan: “With Ripley’s, you never know. We might just be back!”
No lease terms, rent figures or visitor numbers have been released, so anyone claiming to know the financial reason is guessing.
What Happens to the Collection?
Some of it is being sold. Ripley’s said it would offer selected pieces with San Francisco connections for sale as the closure approaches, at what Pattison called “nostalgia pricing”.
The attraction held more than 400 artefacts and a mirror maze of about 2,000 square feet. Among the items named for sale:
- A Golden Gate Bridge on a pinhead: a miniature carving of the bridge made on the head of a pin.
- Toothpick bridge models: renderings of the Golden Gate Bridge built from toothpicks by a local artist.
- Joe DiMaggio’s crutches: crutches used by the San Francisco-born New York Yankees player.
- A Janis Joplin portrait: a likeness of the singer made from chicken wire.
What becomes of the rest of the collection, the mirror maze and the building itself has not been announced. Dispersing a long-standing collection is the part of a closure that tends to be settled quietly and late — when Marineland closed, its animals were moved only after months of uncertainty.
Ripley’s Began in San Francisco
The closure ends the company’s presence in the city where its founder started out. Robert Ripley was born in Santa Rosa, California, on 22 February 1890, about 50 miles north of San Francisco.
By the company’s own account, he began his newspaper career in 1909 as a sports cartoonist at the San Francisco Bulletin before moving east. He later exhibited at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939 and 1940.
Ripley opened his first Odditorium in Chicago in 1933 and died on 27 May 1949. The first permanent Odditorium opened the following year, in 1950, at Castle Warden in St Augustine, Florida. The San Francisco site came much later, opening on 2 February 1967, and it outlasted Odditoriums that once operated in San Diego, Dallas, Cleveland and New York.
Is Fisherman’s Wharf Losing Its Attractions?
Ripley’s is the latest in a run of departures from the waterfront, not the first. The neighbourhood is in the middle of a redevelopment after years of disrupted tourism and the loss of long-standing businesses.
Madame Tussauds San Francisco, also on Fisherman’s Wharf, opened on 26 June 2014 and closed on 3 August 2024 after about ten years. Alioto’s, which began as a fish stand in 1925, shut during the pandemic and never reopened.
Ripley’s has also closed older Odditoriums elsewhere for unrelated reasons. Its Atlantic City museum closed on 31 December 2022 after more than 26 years on the Boardwalk, in that case because the local franchisee’s agreement had run out. The company still operates more than 25 locations worldwide, so this is a retreat from one address rather than from the business. Long-running attractions have been changing hands across the sector — Six Flags America was sold after 51 years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ripley’s Believe It or Not San Francisco Still Open?
Yes, as of 6 October 2026. Ripley’s said it would close before the end of 2026 but has not announced a final day, so the attraction was still operating when the closure was reported.
Why Is Ripley’s San Francisco Closing?
The company has not given a specific reason. A spokesperson said it was not one single challenge or event, but a broader review of the attraction and the changing landscape of Fisherman’s Wharf.
How Long Was Ripley’s on Fisherman’s Wharf?
It opened on 2 February 1967, so it will have operated for 59 years when it closes at the end of 2026. Ripley’s describes it as nearly 60 years.
Can You Buy the Exhibits?
Some of them. Ripley’s said it would sell selected pieces with San Francisco ties, including a Golden Gate Bridge carved on a pinhead, Joe DiMaggio’s crutches and a chicken-wire portrait of Janis Joplin.
Will Ripley’s Return to San Francisco?
Possibly, but nothing is planned. Jim Pattison Jr. said the company was “not necessarily saying goodbye to San Francisco” and added, “We might just be back!” No new site has been named.
