Hills Brothers Coffee Legacy Exhibits
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Now
home to Mozilla, Google,
Gensler Architects,
and a host of
innovative firms, you can tour the history of San Francisco's
original coffee company, Hills Brothers, established in the late 1800s,
viewing this interpretative
exhibit in the historic lobby of 2 Harrison Street. This property was
original constructed by Hills Brothers, opening in 1925. The
lobby exhibits showcase the legacy of Hills Bros. from their humble
beginnings, through the construction of this building, opened
late 1925, through their expansion into a global leader in the coffee
industry.
Reception Desk at 2 Harrison, 1935 SF Bay Bridge Panorama
To create this program, we had the pleasure of working with
the building's original developer Betawest, Hills Brothers, project
architect David Colleen of Whistler Patri, and perhaps most memorably, Carol T.
Wilson, the company's historian, who began his career in this building
in 1924.
Panoramic Mural
This hand-tinted 12' wide panoramic
photograph showing Hills Plaza and the Bay Bridge under construction
full size is a one-of-kind photographic print made from the original negative.
Main Exhibit - historic lobby of 2 Harrison Street
Hills Bros. Coffee Mills Storefront from 1884 to 1894
Hills
Bros. Arabian Coffee & Spice Mills, was located at the corner of
Sansome & Sacramento Streets, serving as both a factory and home office for the
growing company from 1884 to 1894. This site later became the site of
the Federal Reserve Bank.
Unloading coffee at Hills Bros. at 175 Fremont Street c1915
Following
two
years in temporary quarters after being nearly wiped out by the
Earthquake and Fire of 1906, a new building was completed for Hills
Bros. at 175 Fremont
Street. Hills Bros. grew rapidly from
1908 through 1925, when they moved to 2 Harrison Street.
Dedication Plaque honoring Hills Bros Founders
Hills
Bros. was founded February 14, 1878, in San Francisco when two brothers, Austin
H. Hills (1851-1933), and Reuben W. Hills (1856-1934), formed a partnership to
sell retail dairy products in a stall in Bay City Market located at 1146 Market
Street. Three years later they became
owners of Arabian Coffee & Spice Mills. This marked the beginning of their
growth to become one of the nation's largest and most notable coffee
companies. Burned out by the San
Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906, these courageous brothers went on to
achieve their destined mark in coffee history.
This building was the home office and plant for Hills Bros. from January
1926 until April 1990, when remodeling began to make this structure a vital
part of the new block-square Hills Plaza.
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The partnership Hills Bros. was incorporated in 1914,
but the name was not changed to Hills Bros. Coffee, Inc. until the early
1930's. These are the three generations
of Hills men who directed the daily operations of this 98-year-old family-owned
business until it was sold in 1976, later to become a strategic part of the new
Nestle Beverage Company. The company was later sold to Sarah Lee in 1999 and
was sold to Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA in 2005
Three Generations of Hills Brothers
Austin
H. and Reuben W. Hills break ground for their new building at
2 Harrison
Street, August 12, 1924
The sons
of the founders. . .
Herbert
G. Hills next to his father A. H.; Leslie W. Hills, Edward E. and
Reuben Hills, Jr., the three sons of
R. W.
The Grandsons.
. .
Herbert G. Hills Jr., Austin H. Hills, Leslie W. Hills
(second generation),
and Reuben W. Hills, III
Main Lobby Exhibit, #2 Harrison
This
group showcases historical milestones of the Hills Brothers Coffee
Company, featuring the famous tasting table a 2 Harrison as its
centerpiece, set onto a 4" x 2" solid mahogany backing, flanked by two
reproductions of the Holden Murals depicting the history of coffee.
Image on the far right is a 1851 shot of South Beach area showing the
future location of the building before the landfill was done.
Construction progress of 2 Harrison
This
series shows the construction progress of the 2
Harrison Street plant and offices of Hills Bros. from ground-breaking
August 12, 1924, until near completion at the end of 1925. The
architect was George W. Kelham; builder was P. J. Walker Company.
Cross-section Illustration of #2 Harrison showing original operations in the property
This
cross-section illustration of the Hills Bros. plant at 2 Harrison Street shows the path
coffee beans traveled after arrival in the warehouse until they were blended,
roasted and vacuum-packed for shipment.
The orange bins in the center of the Green Coffee Mixing Tower were used
in combining various lots of coffee to prepare the final Hills Bros.
blend. The cup testing rooms are at the
top right side of the building.
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Sculpture in Hills Plaza Courtyard by Spyro Anargyros
of the turbaned icon of the Hills Brothers brand
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Dedication plaque
Electric Roof Sign, Hanging the "H" on 2 Harrison Street
LEFT: In
1935, the original electric roof sign facing the Bay was converted from
incandescent globes to red neon tubing.
Background: This
photographic model appeared frequently in promotional materials for Hills Bros.
Coffee in the late 1920's.
Additional Reference:
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History of Hills Brothers - Blog post on San Francisco Images
Hills Bros Flickr Gallery
Leasing and building office at Hills Plaza
Wikipedia
