Boller Brothers Architectural Records (KC0065)
The Kansas City architectural firm of Boller Brothers (also known as Carl Boller and Brother) specialized in theater design and was the architects of movie houses throughout the Midwest between 1902 and ca. 1950.
Carl Heinrich Boller (1868-1946) began his architectural practice about 1902 in St. Joseph, Missouri, doing designs of theaters for vaudeville circuits. In 1905, he opened an office in Kansas City, Missouri, and within a year brought his younger brother, Robert Otto (1887-1962) into the business as a draftsman. After service in the United States Army Corps of Engineers (1918-1919), Robert returned to the practice as a full partner and the firm name changed to Boller Brothers. With the boom in building movie theaters throughout the country, the brothers’ work expanded to the point that by 1920 they established an office in Oklahoma to handle business in that state. In the next year, Carl moved to Los Angeles, California, with Robert remaining in Kansas City. Most of the Boller Brothers theaters in the Midwest after 1920 can be assumed to be Robert Boller’s creations.
The firm was responsible for or consulted on numerous important theaters in the Midwest including the Electric Theater in Kansas City, Kansas (1922); the Kimo Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico (1927); the Missouri Theater in St. Joseph, Missouri (1927); and the Landers Theater in Springfield, Missouri (1909). Many of the theaters designed by the Boller Brothers have been razed or modified and modernized in their appearance.
Carl Boller died in California on October 31, 1946, and his brother, Robert, died in Dallas, Texas, on November 24, 1962.
The records contain architectural drawings of theaters and commercial buildings designed or remodeled by Carl Boller, Robert Boller or their firm. Each of the buildings is listed in the Architectural Records Collection card file under the title of the building, the architect(s) name, and the location of the building. ca. 1915-ca. 1953.
57 rolls of architectural plans.
© WHMC-KC, University of Missouri
updated:
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City
(816) 235-1543 WHMCKC@umkc.edu