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Ghirardelli Square — The checkable facts
Quick answer
The Ghirardelli chocolate factory occupied a full block near Fisherman's Wharf from 1893, after Domingo Ghirardelli's sons bought the old Pioneer Woolen Mill. Production moved to San Leandro in the early 1960s. William Roth and his mother Lurline bought the site in 1962 and reopened it in 1964 as Ghirardelli Square, one of the first adaptive reuse projects in the United States.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Domingo Ghirardelli was born in Rapallo, Italy in 1817 and apprenticed to a Genoa confectioner | Ghirardelli Square — History |
| The company took over the Pioneer Woolen Mills on North Point Street | Ghirardelli Square — History |
| Domenico Ghirardelli purchased the entire city block in 1893 | Wikipedia — Ghirardelli Square |
| Golden Grain Macaroni Company bought the firm in the early 1960s and moved production to San Leandro | Wikipedia — Ghirardelli Square |
| A group of San Franciscans bought the property to prevent demolition; the square opened on 29 November 1964 | Ghirardelli Square — History |
| It was the first major adaptive re-use project in the United States and the model for Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Harborplace | Wikipedia — Ghirardelli Square |
Frequently asked
Is chocolate still made here?
No. Manufacturing moved across the bay to San Leandro in the early 1960s and stayed there. What remains on the block is the brick shell of the plant, the illuminated rooftop sign, the clock tower and the retail store on the ground floor. The rest of the complex is shops and restaurants.
Who was Domingo Ghirardelli?
A confectioner born at Rapallo, near Genoa, in 1817. He trained in Italy, ran a shop in Lima, Peru, and reached California in 1849 hoping to sell sweets to gold miners. By 1852 he had premises in San Francisco. His name still sits on one of the oldest continuously operating chocolate firms in the country.
What does adaptive reuse mean?
Keeping an old building and giving it a new job instead of knocking it down. When the Roth family reopened the disused plant as shops and restaurants in 1964, working with landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and the firm Wurster, Bernardi and Emmons, the result became the American template for the idea.
Is the square legally protected?
Yes. San Francisco designated it a city landmark in 1970, and it joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. That status covers the brick factory buildings, the clock tower and the terraced plaza, which is why the complex still reads as a nineteenth-century industrial block rather than a modern mall.
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