One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

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

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

In a quiet north Chicago neighborhood rests a stunning relic of the golden age of earthenware design.

One-of-a-kind preserved ruins of an abandoned 1880s church in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

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

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

Former meatpacking facility turned vertical farm and sustainable business complex.

Cemetery featuring rare glass-fronted columbarium.

The beloved home to all publications indie, erotic, and punky.

A shining sculpture made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

Chicago's museum dedicated to the history of bondage and fetishism is more textbook than titillation.

This historic hotel invented the chocolate brownie.

The only Bahá'í house of worship in North America and one of only a handful worldwide.

Chicago's largest cemetery is full of beautiful Victorian monuments and more than a few ghost stories.

A hollow cement depiction of time's inexorable effect on the human body.

The subtle science of a master molecular gastronomist.

This unauthorized stone mermaid was secretly carved out of public stone before being permanently preserved.

An antiquated German apothecary on Chicago's North Side.

A Bibliophile's Dream.

A monument to the art of slicing people open.

A speakeasy takes on Chicago's drinking culture.

A lovely hidden waterfall right off the highway is well worth a stop.