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

The NBA player's elaborate former home is now a ghost of its old glory.

An exhibit of items from the mental institution where Mary Todd Lincoln lived after her son conspired to have her committed.

The sign to a demolished amusement park now stands in front of a local library.

One of the largest carillons in the world, this giant instrument has 67 cast-iron bells played by a keyboard.

Buy a token from the liquor store and you can make this beast spew flames on command.

The famous Beatle secretly visited this Illinois town several times to visit his sister.

In the Shawnee National Forest, amazing rock formations peer through the treeline.

A massive bur oak tree believed to be some 500 years old is the centerpiece of this quiet urban greenspace.

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

The poet’s boyhood home is now dedicated to celebrating his life and legacy.

This baseball diamond was home to the Rockford Peaches, a team featured in the hit film "A League of Their Own."

This former nursery supplied plants for the creation of Chicago's largest park.

Where a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse met one Saturday and changed their lives forever.

An abandoned observatory in the middle of the Illinois prairie.

Burial mounds of prehistoric Native Americans who lived along the DuPage River.

This lush 12-acre site was once named the finest Japanese garden in North America.

This small-town opera house has appeared much more in national culture and history than its charming setting might suggest.

One of the finest examples of a black soil prairie that was barely saved by the Great Depression.

A once-booming Mississippi River town with a history of racial violence is now eerie and mostly abandoned.

It should come as no surprise that the best view of the Hollywood sign is from Batman's lair.

A giant pair of thick black glasses mark the tragic demise of a trio of rock and roll legends.

Inside this magical collection, you can buy recipes cooked up by church ladies, motorcycle clubs, and clowns.

A brick-paved former section of the historic coast-to-coast highway.