Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.

A strange rock in Chicago marks the spot where a tree once stood in honor of the 18th President.

A goddess-topped water fountain in Chicago was created thanks to the dreams of a thirsty newsboy.

This urban drawbridge gained eternal pop culture fame when the Blues Brothers jumped it while it was raised.

A century-old hotspot for jazz, frequented by everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Al Capone.

This cheerfully-named branch of the Chicago River is the fetid result of years of blood, entrails, and meatpacking waste.

Once called the "Polish Gold Coast" it is an icon of the neighborhood that bears its same name.

Hot Doug's "Hot Dog" Stand.

Built to house a chapter of the Knights Templar, this grandiose building is a relic of Freemasonry in Chicago a century ago.

One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

A century-old network of freight tunnels underneath the city's historic business district.

A theater sits abandoned on Roosevelt Road, once majestic in splendor, now majestic in decay.

Where old school Polish Chicago and young hipster Chicago live side by side.

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

A hot dog stand where the heads are just as hot as the dogs.

The unluckiest U-boat in the entire German fleet is now on display in a Chicago museum.

A display of magnificent stained glass windows is the first exhibit of its kind.

Home to a protest movement, a bombing, and a dramatic change in labor history.

This historic hotel invented the chocolate brownie.

The twin towers in this Chicago fountain use 50 foot tall video screens to spit on people.

What was once one of the country's largest confectionary plants is now an abandoned ruin, but is still pretty sweet.

Internationally known record store and purveyor of "dusties."

A hollow cement depiction of time's inexorable effect on the human body.

What's left of the ruins of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition, or World's Fair, also known as the White City.