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

Former meatpacking facility turned vertical farm and sustainable business complex.

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

A haunting statue called "Eternal Silence" has quite the reputation among visitors with active imaginations.

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

Chicago was once a major hub of film production, but being silent film you don’t hear much about it.

A strange and haunting monument of unknown origin in the historic Graceland Cemetery.

An unassuming store hides relics of its former life as the jazz club that hosted some of the best black performers of the 1920s and '30s.

These chunky stone towers out in Lake Michigan are the key to Chicago’s drinking water.

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

The world's only known button museum.

Hot Doug's "Hot Dog" Stand.

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

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

One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

Orthodox church partially financed by Tsar Nicolas II.

Where Cusack's record store from the film "High Fidelity" was located.

Beloved bar home to musicians of all eras and reputations.

Combination beer garden and music venue in the heart of Wicker Park.

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

Once an ornate movie theater remade by Catholic Charities.

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

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

The faint remains of a Polish news empire still linger.