Ripley’s Believe It or Not! to close San Francisco museum after 59 years

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!