A monument to the art of slicing people open.

This massive stained-glass masterpiece is thought to be the largest Tiffany dome in existence.

These pretty kitties killed and ate as many as 135 railway workers.

Beloved bar home to musicians of all eras and reputations.

Each of these gorgeous, intricately decorated rooms is painstakingly crafted to the scale of 1 inch: 1 foot.

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

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

At Chicago's revered Field Museum, visitors are invited to learn about and literally explore DNA.

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

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

An eccentric park and pool.

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

The only castle in North America to ever house European sovereigns.

This historic-shipwreck-cum-diving-spot can still be seen poking its boiler out of the Lake Michigan waters that claimed it.

The 30,000-volume library is one of the world's most impressive poetry collections.

A sculptor's dream castle turned fantastical ruin.

Rotting dome home spotted near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

This research center for rare prosimians is studying how they sleep to help prolong human life.

This woodland architectural installation acts as a camera obscura for the heavens.

Eighteenth century house of the mysterious "Father of Raleigh."