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

These Depression-era WPA sculptures have made a couple of stops over the years.

The world's third-largest scale model of the planets.

A collection of 11 million buttons illustrates the human toll of the Holocaust.

The remnants of Peoria's proud baseball past stand slightly abandoned, but not forgotten.

One of two identical monuments marking the sites of military training encampments in Peoria, Illinois.

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

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

An outdoor urban gallery of large-scale artworks by the world's most influential street artists.

G.V. Black, the Father of Modern Dentistry, keeps an eternal eye on Chicagoan’s teeth from his perch in Lincoln Park.

All of Chicago's wood-paved streets are long gone but two alleys remain.

A remnant of the last Ice Age, this lake is surrounded by fascinating rock formations.

Parking lot where a Chicago mayor was inaugurated under very sketchy circumstances.

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

Odd, decrepit fountain honors Chicago author who had mixed feelings about his hometown.

The faint remains of a Polish news empire still linger.

Theater has had many different incarnations but has survived the ravages of time.

An Art Deco gem that held together the artistic heart of an agricultural community for 92 years.

This architectural stunner is one of the few surviving Egyptian Revival theaters in the U.S.

Hidden on the seventh floor of a historic building, this Cajun spot features wall-to-wall bottles of hot sauce.

The carved remains of a 200-year-old oak tree memorialize the namesake of the iconic "Wizard of Oz" character.

This abandoned 19th century orphanage started as a boarding school for children of Civil War veterans.

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

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