A Milwaukee museum provides an unsparing and ultimately empowering look at the Black American experience.

The original Garfield station is the oldest station facility on the "L", with the station house dating from 1892.

Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.

Theater has had many different incarnations but has survived the ravages of time.

The murals have transformed a residential alley into a vibrant drive-through gallery.

Today this bizarre rooftop phone booth seems like a piece of kitsch but it was once used to spot disastrous storms.

This tiny historic jail along Route 66 is the perfect fit for exactly one criminal and their partner-in-crime.

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

Where dioramas can follow you home.

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

This deceivingly ordinary warehouse hides an enormous collection of pop culture treasures.

The hometown of Popeye's creator is littered with a growing collection of granite cartoon characters.

This cemetery is all that remains of a school for "wayward" girls.

A historic and oft-filmed prison stands in a Chicago suburb.

This architectural stunner is one of the few surviving Egyptian Revival theaters in the U.S.

Not to be confused with the iconic New York City skyscraper, this Chicago building is a vibrant hub for artists.

Spanking machines, fake goats, and more devices of humiliation are on display in this museum of fraternal initiation devices.

Its eclectic exhibits range from the world’s first motorcycle to Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder.

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

One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

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

A curious collection of miniatures in a quiet corner of the Chicago Children's Museum.

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

When you visit his grave, be sure to rub the Great Emancipator's nose for good luck.