Background
Willis Jefferson Polk was born in 1867 in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States.
Willis Jefferson Polk was born in 1867 in Jacksonville, Illinois, United States.
A few years later he studied under former Van Brunt associate William Robert Ware at Columbia University in New York City.
In his teens, he worked in his father's carpenter shop in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1887, Polk moved to Kansas City to join the firm of Van Brunt & Howe, who had just established a branch office there. A few years later he studied under former Van Brunt associate William Robert Ware at Columbia University in New York City. He also worked at the firm of A. Page Brown. In the 1890s, Polk moved to San Francisco to launch his own firm. He struggled to earn commissions, and in 1897 he declared bankruptcy.
In 1901, Polk went on a tour of Europe and Chicago. In Chicago, he met prominent architect Daniel Burnham. From 1903 to 1913, Polk was the West Coast representative of D.H. Burnham & Company. Polk designed several of his most notable structures while associated with the firm, including the Merchants Exchange Building, the tallest building in San Francisco upon its completion in 1903. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake opened up numerous opportunities for Polk to design Burnham structures. He was a member of Mayor Eugene Schmitz's Committee of Fifty leaders who undertook ambitious plans to rebuild a world-class city. Polk was tasked with convincing city officials to adopt Burnham's 1905 Plan of San Francisco.
By 1910, Willis Polk was recognized as one of the most influential architects and urban planners in the city. Polk was again credited for designing the tallest building in San Francisco when his Hobart Building was completed in 1914. In 1915, Polk was appointed the chair of the architectural planning committee for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. When the exposition concluded, Polk led the effort to preserve Bernard Maybeck's Palace of Fine Arts.