Kwanu'sila the Thunderbird has been silently watching over Chicago for more than 100 years (kind of).

Burial mounds of prehistoric Native Americans who lived along the DuPage River.

This old-fashioned confectionary has been family owned and operated for more than a century.

The park that the Chicago Stockyards built.

A relic of the Cold War in Chicago.

Huge abstract sculptures of the Puerto Rican Flag.

Chicago's Navy Pier on Lake Michigan was a training hub for aircraft carrier pilots during WWII.

This house renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright was the centerpiece of a lavish 20th-century estate.

Known as the "Cross At The Crossroads," this massive metal cross is just short enough to avoid the FAA.

This national park dedicated to the tallgrass prairie ecosystem still displays its military past.

The last masonry skyscraper ever built reveals a transitional moment in architectural history.

A spectacular remnant of an Adler and Sullivan masterpiece that was destroyed in 1972.

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 400-foot-tall tall map of Chicago makes this once-ignored building stand out.

Museum dedicated to the art of cutting and polishing stones.

This lush 12-acre site was once named the finest Japanese garden in North America.

A journey begins with a single step, and for many, the road-trip of a lifetime started at this Chicago intersection.

Man-made geyser that rises to the exact height of the Gateway Arch.

This bronze sculpture on a former squash court marks the secret origins of the Atomic Age.

Arguably the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States, rivaling its counterparts in the Netherlands.

A historic and oft-filmed prison stands in a Chicago suburb.

A sprawling outdoor museum filled with larger-than-life works of art.

Cold War missile launch site which has been converted to a public park.

This art gallery and oddities boutique bewitches visitors with a trove of occult trinkets and eccentric antiques, work by an ever-changing roster of underground artists, and classes in tarot and other mystic arts.