The Folger Coffee Company was the oldest family-owned coffee importer in the City. They built the Folger Coffee Building at 101 Howard Street & Spear St. in 1905 that survived the earthquake and still stands today. The Folgers were descendants of the Massachusetts Bay Colony family that arrived in the colonies in 1635. One was Abiah Folger, the mother of founding father Ben Franklin. The family was also mentioned in Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick as Nantucket whalers. However, with the whaling industry dying, James Folger and his brothers decided to join the Gold Rush in 1849. His brothers went directly to the gold country, while James, age 14, began selling coffee in the mining towns and made more money. The precursor of the Folger Coffee Company was founded in 1850 in San Francisco as the Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills. In 1872 it was acquired and renamed by James A. Folger. For a period August Schilling was a partner, later of the spice fame. The five-story brick Folger Coffee Building is the former headquarters and is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. The building still has a sign saying The Folgers Coffee Company on one corner. Architect Henry Schulze designed the Folger Coffee Company building in the Renaissance Revival architectural style with an exterior steel frame faced with red brick. This building served Folger as office space, processing plant, and warehouse. During the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, Folger introduced San Francisco to Central American coffee beans. Later, the company opened offices in Mexico and El Salvador, helping establish the enduring strong ties between San Francisco and Latin America. Under the mid-20th century leadership of his great-grandson Peter Folger the brand became one of the principal coffee concerns in the worlds largest North America coffee market. In 1963 The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) of Cincinnati, OH, acquired The Folgers Coffee Company. The J.M. Smucker Company then purchased Folgers in November 2008 and made it a subsidiary. On August 2, 2011, the Folger Building was purchased by the University of San Francisco for $36.5 million, marking a return to the universitys roots in downtown San Francisco. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has its California campus on the top floor.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 00:40:45 +0000
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