Do you remember the 3400 block of Broadway in Valentine?

This unusual gas station, possibly converted from the home of H.D. Clark, stood at the corner at 33rd and Broadway. It is now a parking lot.

Last week, the 3400 block of Broadway was in the news, as the city council took action to advance a proposed project on the MGE site at 34th Street.

That area has undergone significant changes over the years. Broadway, like other major Midtown thoroughfares such as Main Street and Troost Avenue, began as a residential street, but was converted over the years into a commercial corridor.

Map 1. An 1891 map of the blocks.

In the case of Broadway, four maps from different decades show the transitions – sometimes gradual and sometimes abrupt – in how the street evolved.

The first map shows Broadway in 1891. The dark yellow line shows the block, dominated at this time by the large estate of H.D. Clark, owner of the Orpheus Theater in downtown Kansas City. Just to the north, Dr. Joseph Feld for a while offered dancing and boating in his large private park. And across the street to the east was the land of the Redemptorist Fathers.

The Hyde Park area was just beginning to be developed. The first map also shows early homes west of Broadway in what is now the Valentine neighborhood.

Map 2. 1895-1907 map.. During this period, the area was outside the outskirts of Westport and was made up of homes and apartments.

The second map shows the same area from 1895-1907. During this period, the area was outside the outskirts of Westport and was made up of homes and apartments.

Map 3. The same blocks in a 1909-1950 map, showing the addition of the Porter Building and other commercial buildings along Broadway.

The third map shows the same blocks in a 1909-1950 map, showing the addition of the Porter Building and other commercial buildings along Broadway.

The area today.

Today, even greater changes have occurred on the blocks. Many of the major changes came in the late 1950s, when Broadway went through a rapid redevelopment period that saw homes and local neighborhood businesses razed to make room for large commercial buildings.

The in 1970, the VFW built its new national headquarters on the site of the former Porter Building and Tattershall Hotel. The MGE Building was built in 1984 between 34^th Street and 34^th Terrace.

The Porter Building and the Tattershall Hotel in 1930.