This former small town was destroyed not by the motor oil it sprayed the ground with but by the toxic waste that was added.

This titanic oil company sign is a reminder of the Americana boom of the 1970s and also its commoditization.

A mythical bird etched into the face of a rock doubles as the mascot for a nearby school.

This life-size bronze statue remembers the tallest recorded human in his Illinois hometown.

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

Quirky water tower advertises the long-gone Brooks Tomato Products Co.

This pun was simply waiting to come to life, and one defense contractor made it so.

A Civil War Museum with some notable medical antiques.

Despite violent work crews and massive delays this abandoned canal tunnel was built to last into the modern day.

Captain John Smith thought these cliffs were amazing in 1608 but sharks thought so 20 million years before him.

The remnants of a wooden-hulled fleet built and abandoned in WWI, now home to a thriving ecosystem.

The site of the climactic scene from the classic horror film is now a historic landmark.

A labor of love built by local hang-gliding enthusiasts, this ideal launch spot was outlawed by the authorities and has since been largely abandoned.

A pre-Industrial Age iron furnace and the site of a nearly-forgotten piece of Black history.

The last holdout of a pre-Civil War rebel who took the matter of slavery into his own hands.