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.

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

One of the few remaining relics of the meatpacking hub that made Chicago the "hog butcher to the world."

A beloved Chicago music venue offering cold beer and lots of “Friendly."

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

A lush green oasis in the middle of Chicago.

A source of civic pride, though the reason for its construction is unknown.

It was originally part of a "terrible lizards" collection at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

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

The clothes-washing king doubles as a community center with some unusual features, including an aviary filled with finches.