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

This unassuming city park is home to three different types of Native American mounds.

A bronze plaque marks the site of the only show the "King of the Soul Singers" ever missed.

Software company Epic Systems has created one of the strangest and largest workplaces of all time.

The arboretum whose marshy soil sucked up the dreams of housing developers.

Every winter, the wind carves blocks of frozen water into beautiful abstract shapes inside this unusually curved tunnel.

This monolithic statue was erected in honor of Chief Black Hawk (even if it wasn't made to look like him).

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

Nonprofit art center that promotes outsider, intuitive, and self-taught art.

A Museum of Holography frozen in 1974.

This titanic Catholic church in Chicago is also a refuge of the fictional cult-favorite wizard detective Harry Dresden.

This shop for all your super spy needs hides an educational secret.

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

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

A Bibliophile's Dream.

A European-style bath house in Chicago.

A giant bronze coil of feces is both a tribute to doggie defecation and a reminder to pick it up.

A towering Art Deco movie palace made to look like a Mayan temple.

Medical museum focused on antique anesthesiology equipment.

Take a break from all the boring business of death at this funeral home mini-golf course.

Grand opera on a miniature scale.

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

Museum dedicated to the art of cutting and polishing stones.

People escaping slavery passed through the oldest house in Lombard, Illinois on their northbound journey to freedom.