Historical Pioneer Woolen Mills & Ghirardelli Co

The Pioneer Woolen Mills building is identified by its heavy red brick walls, laid in an American bond pattern that reaches four stories toward the sky. It stands today as the core of the historic complex known as Ghirardelli Square. When it was built in eighteen sixty-two, it sat directly on the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, positioned there so workers could use the water to wash raw wool and receive coal by ship.