JULY 9, 1977: San Francisco’s Ferry Building, designed by architect Willis Polk, was designated a San Francisco historical landmark.

July 9, 2022

No architect made a bigger impact on San Francisco’s skyline than Willis Polk. Between 1906-1914 he designed 106 commercial and residential buildings throughout the Bay Area, most of which remain today and the majority of which are located within City limits.

Willis Jefferson Polk was born on October 3, 1867 in Jacksonville, Illinois, eventually moving with his family to Hope, Arkansas. The son of an architect, Willis apprenticed as a carpenter at the age of 14 and a year later won a competition for the design of a six-room schoolhouse. In 1885 the Polk family moved to Kansas City where Willis, his brother and his father opened WW Polk & Sons.

In 1889 Willis moved to New York to join architect A. Page Brown. The firm relocated to San Francisco and in 1892 the company was commissioned to design and oversee the building of a new Ferry Building. After Brown’s sudden death, Polk took over the project and is credited for the structure that stands today.

Before the building of the Golden Gate^[1] and Bay^[2] Bridges in 1939, the only way to get to the City was by ferry or by traveling around the San Francisco Bay through San Jose, 50 miles south of the City. The Ferry Building was first built in 1875, a wooden structure at the foot of Market Street^[3] on the Embarcadero. The 1892 rebuild was two stories high and 660 feet long with repeating interior arches, massive overhead skylights and a 245 foot clock tower. At that point it was the largest project undertaken in the City. It survived the 1906 Earthquake^[4] with little damage. A large pedestrian bridge spanned over the Embarcadero but was dismantled during World War II^[5] to supply scrap metal for the war effort. Having become obsolete after the building of the bridges, the Ferry Building was converted to office space but, in 2003 (after a four year remodel), was reopened to the public with a ground floor marketplace and offices on the second floor. The clock tower continues to chime on the full and half hour.

The Polk family followed Willis to San Francisco and established Polk & Polk. Willis designed, brother Daniel drafted and their father supervised construction. In 1897, after Willis’ father retired and his brother left to play the banjo in vaudeville, the company declared bankruptcy.

In 1900 Willis Polk married Christine Barreda and moved into her family’s home at 2141 Buchanan in Pacific Heights. A year later they moved to Chicago where Polk was hired by famous architect Daniel Burnham^[6]. In 1903 he returned with Burnham to San Francisco to work on a master City design, though that plan was never implemented. While in San Francisco Burnham was commissioned to design the Merchants Exchange Building and he turned the project over to Polk. Burnham returned to Chicago and Polk stayed behind to head up Burnham’s West Coast office.

The 1906 Earthquake and Fires proved lucrative for Polk and DH Burnham & Co. Wanting to move away from the Victorian architectural style^[7] that pervaded the San Francisco landscape prior to the earthquake, Polk’s designs had simple lines, arched windows and arcades. One of his first commissions was to work with Julia Morgan^[8] restoring the newly constructed Merchants Exchange Building that had been gutted by fire. By 1910 Polk was recognized as one of San Francisco’s most influential architects. In 1913 he left D.H. Burnham to create his own company, Willis Polk & Co.

In 1914 Polk was commissioned to design the Hobart Building^[9] at 582 Market Street. It took just eleven months to build and, when completed, was the tallest building in the City. By this point Polk had a reputation for being arrogant and difficult to work with. He ignored the City’s fire codes and the story goes that when a building inspector arrived on site with a police escort, Polk climbed onto a steel girder 10-stories up to avoid arrest. It made him an instant celebrity. He was seen strutting around the City swinging his cane and smoking a cigar. Like his brother, he could play a mean banjo.

Polk was hired by the City to oversee the architectural committee for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition^[10]. He chose Bernard Maybeck’s^[11] design for the Palace of Fine Arts and championed the saving of the structure once the Expo was over. That same year, Polk was hired by Michael H de Young^[12] to design adjoining houses for de Young’s daughters Constance and Helen on two lots on California between Gough and Octavia. Polk designed the houses to mirror each-other, with an archway meant to visually connect the houses. While Constance moved into her house in 1915, Helen decided to live elsewhere and the second house was never built, leaving the archway incomplete^[13].

In 1916 Polk was commissioned to design his biggest achievement: the Hallidie Building at 130 Sutter^[14]. Polk used a glass curtain facade that became the standard for modern skyscraper design.

The list of Polk’s designs include the restoration of Mission Dolores^[15] in 1917, the St. Francis Yacht Club^[16] in 1924, and the Beach Chalet^[17] and Kezar Stadium^[18] in 1925. But by the late 1920s Polk’s chronic alcoholism became a problem and he neglected his business and lost commissions. On September 10, 1934 he died at the age of 56 from a heart attack at his home in San Mateo and was buried at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.

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[1] Golden Gate Bridge: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4916

[2] Bay Bridge: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3306

[3] Market Street: story coming July 26th

[4] 1906 Earthquake and Fires: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849

[5] World War II: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4222

[6] Daniel Burnham: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3273

[7] Victorian Architecture: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=5185

[8] Julia Morgan: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4408

[9] See photo: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/20A5E988-E6E4-4E89-B16F-5F6BB912CBF5.jpeg

[10] 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition: story coming February 20th

[11] Bernard Maybeck: story coming July 14th