After 59 years, Ripley’s San Francisco museum and mirror maze are closing by year-end

Ripley’s San Francisco museum and mirror mazePhoto credit: Ripley's Believe It or Not! (San Francisco)/ FACEBOOK After nearly six decades at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is preparing to close its doors before the end of 2026. The attraction, which opened on February 2, 1967, contains more than 400 unusual artifacts and a 2,000-square-foot mirror maze. SFGATE reported that the company has not announced a specific final date, but the museum will remain open while it organises the closure. Ripley’s also plans to sell several exhibits connected to San Francisco, including a tiny Golden Gate Bridge made on the head of a pin, toothpick versions of the landmark, Joe DiMaggio’s crutches and a chicken-wire portrait of Janis Joplin. The decision ends a colourful chapter in the history of Fisherman’s Wharf, where generations of visitors paid to see curiosities, oddities and objects designed to make them question what was possible.The end of a Fisherman’s Wharf eraRipley’s Believe It or Not! became part of the Fisherman’s Wharf experience long before smartphones, social media and interactive digital attractions changed the tourism industry.For 59 years, the mu...