If you take a walk through any southwest Michigan downtown, you can typically find traces of history.

These remnants of our past are found in brick lined sidewalks, intricate molding, aluminum ceilings, beautiful brick walls and ornate architecture that has withstood the test of time. No amount of paint can cover up the hard work of our ancestors.

Often when new businesses open or longtime businesses close, these stories are met with criticism, as if the natural ebb and flow of entrepreneurship is somehow a reflection of the leaders working so hard to make our towns thrive. Some tend to forget that the past is in the past for a reason, and that it is not coming back.

While I believe it is important to keep our sights set on the future and refrain from dwelling on what used to be, I also believe it is important to remember where we came from when it comes to building our communities.

As new buildings are built throughout our towns and new businesses fill storefronts that have been home to countless businesses throughout the years, it is fun to look back at what came before us. While much has changed throughout the years, these traces of history can be found in very old photos if you look closely enough.

With this in mind, Leader Publications will be introducing a new standing feature into our daily products, with the help of our local history centers. Each Tuesday print readers will find a photograph from the past, and a modern photo recreating the image.

Playing on a hashtag that trends on social media each week, on Transformation Tuesday, each Tuesday, we will feature a before and after photo of a place or event occurring our region.

Since the teams at the Niles and Dowagiac history centers provided us with loads of photos to choose from, I have enjoyed flipping through the images and recognizing businesses and storefronts that still stand today. It has been fun to see events that once lined our streets, different attire during past years, and horse-drawn buggies where we find sedans and pickups now.

As this feature picks up steam, we encourage readers to dig into their own archives and send us photos that they would like to recreate. Old photographs can be sent to news@leaderpub.com. 

While these images may bring about sentimental feelings of days gone by, they also mark progress — a clear before and after of not only where we were, but how far we have come.

We hope this feature will allow our readers to not only reflect on fond memories on our city streets, but also make us celebrate the change that has made our communities the vibrant places they are today — and inspire new memories to be made.