We go about our daily lives in a city and it never seems to change. But really it reinvents itself every day, just as we all do.

It’s just that change happens gradually, one building, one street reconstruction project or one wrinkle at a time. So you don’t really notice the alterations.

But if you last visited Rockford, 25 or 30 years or even 50 years ago and hadn’t returned until now, you’d certainly notice big changes. It's the same surprise you get when you go to a 25th or 50th high school reunion.

For instance, those stores you used to pass by? Many of those buildings are occupied by different retailers now. Some shopping centers are vacant while others have sprung up.

Some well-known factories are gone, but others have taken their places. The configuration of some streets — Charles Street and South Main Street, for example — have been changed. Bridges have been rebuilt and new bridges added. That sleepy old airport is now a bustling air freight and jet repair hub.

If you last knew the big red barn downtown as The MetroCentre, you might be surprised to see the signs announcing the BMO Harris Bank Center. But it’s the same big red barn.

Schools have been closed; new schools have been built. There are whole, new parks and sports facilities. Churches have been built. And we now have a mosque.

The minor league baseball team has yet another new name and owners, the Rockford Lightning vanished, but the IceHogs are going strong.

Favorite restaurants vanished; new ones have taken their places. And that old factory downtown? It’s going to be a high class hotel.

This special publication of the Rockford Register Star and rrstar.com explores in pictures the way the greater Rockford area has changed physically through a series of “then and now” pictures. We’ve combed through our archives, local history books and family collections to select pictures that illustrate how the city and suburbs have changed over the years by photographing the same scenes today.

For years I have had a personal interest in local landmarks and in everyday life as pictured years ago. My grandfather, Leslie Sherman Sweeny, was a carpenter in Rockford in the early 20th century. He was also deeply into his hobby of photography, capturing scenes of daily life, parades, buildings and people in the community. He took pictures of downtown, iconic parks like Blackhawk, Sinnissippi and Fairgrounds. He captured images of Civil War veterans marching at the grand opening of Memorial Hall in 1902, when President Theodore Roosevelt came to Rockford to dedicate it.

Many years later, in the 1990s, I was working here at the Register Star when one day I was asked to show a 60-something Swedish couple around the city.

It seems the gentleman had been born in Rockford and had lived his first 14 years here. Then the Depression hit, and his immigrant father lost his job when a furniture factory closed.

So, the family moved back to Sweden, where the son grew up, joined the Swedish border guards during World War II and then became an engineer working for the country’s transportation department. He rose to the rank of transport minister.

When he retired, the man longed to return to Rockford to try and find his old house. That job fell to me, and it wasn’t very hard. His old house on 22nd Avenue was still there, and still in good shape.

But everything around the east side was totally different — he’d gone home before such iconic structures as East High School, Rockford Plaza and the many subdivisions of post World War II Rockford had taken shape. He was amazed, and also saddened that the bustling downtown he’d known as a child was practically deserted. Being a frugal eco-friendly Swede, he and his girlfriend were shocked at what they called an appalling waste of land out on East State Street along Retail Row.

Take a look, then, at what we’ve put together and see how much things have changed through the years for you. We think the pictures will rekindle old memories and perhaps give you some ideas about Rockford’s — and your own — future.

Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; csweeny@rrstar.com; @chucksweeny