A century-old network of freight tunnels underneath the city's historic business district.

A collection of 11 million buttons illustrates the human toll of the Holocaust.

The young Black revolutionary was killed before getting to see a non-segregated pool in his hometown.

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

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

Roses and other fascinating flora fill this garden built to commemorate Britain's immortal Bard.

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

The first and only museum dedicated to stained glass and horology opened outside of Chicago in 2017.

Small and slightly hidden, the American Writers Museum is preserving the legacy of America's finest authors.

One of Chicago's last seafood smokehouses perfects a dying breed of fishcraft.

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

A plaque marks a former safe house on the secret route, now hidden next to a McDonald's.

This botanical garden outside Chicago boasts an array of more than 300 varieties of lilacs.

The mysterious white squirrels of this Illinois city are treated like sacred cows.

A notorious Route 66 eatery once frequented by Al Capone.

Taxidermy, Cigar Store Indians, A Model of a New York Tenement and Delicious Draft Root Beer.

The iconic Chicago sculpture hides a beautiful and easily overlooked plaque on the backside.

The city of Rockford, Illinois is symbolically protected by a quartet of fittingly stony sentinels.

Home to a protest movement, a bombing, and a dramatic change in labor history.

This sprawling mini-golf empire is an impressive testament to a disappearing attraction.

This overgrown Illinois water park offers a whole new type of adventure.

Once one of the world's great cities, Cahokia was a place of religious worship, trade and mass human sacrifice before being mysteriously abandoned.

The face of a woman pushes its way through the earth.

Recognized the world over as the home of the McCallisters in the 1990 movie "Home Alone."