Polk, Willis, 1867-1937

Biography

Born in Jacksonville, Illinois, Willis Polk was the son of carpenter Willis Webb Polk. He began working with a local contractor at the age of eight, and within five years had become office boy in the firm of architect Jerome B. Legg. By 1885, Polk and his father had established a partnership in Kansas City under the name W. W. Polk & Son. The company's projects were primarily for small suburban homes or row houses, and the younger Polk was responsible for the design of some of these commissions.

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