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

The famous author's birthplace is preserved in a town that he once described as narrow-minded.

Museum dedicated to the art of cutting and polishing stones.

This small, but long-running hobby club has built one of the largest model rail lines in the US.

One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.

The final resting place of up to 6,000 Confederate soldiers, the largest mass grave in the Western Hemisphere.

One of the first historical sites of an alternative universe was installed in the town of Paris, Illinois—which is now home to an annual spelling bee of Kcymaerxthaereal words.

Half-sized replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa built to honor Galileo.

These mansions date back to Chicago's days as a brewer's paradise.

The iconic Chicago sculpture hides a beautiful and easily overlooked plaque on the backside.

A river with some unusual, and occasionally dangerous, habits.

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

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

Eclectic collection of rare and beautiful stones in a historic home.

Tour the luxe "glass cage" that inspired and unnerved the architecture world upon its debut.

The legacy of an unsolved, gruesome murder rests beneath the spans of this historic bridge.

A small abandoned and abused cemetery that has become a magnet for ghost hunters.

The city of Rockford, Illinois is symbolically protected by a quartet of fittingly stony sentinels.

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

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

What was once the second largest steel mill in the US is now a sprawling complex of modern ruins.

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

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