Over 60 chemical plants and oil refineries sit in a 15-mile-wide section outside town.

A theater sits abandoned on Roosevelt Road, once majestic in splendor, now majestic in decay.

No one knows how many bodies are in this vault in a Chicago public park.

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

These chunky stone towers out in Lake Michigan are the key to Chicago’s drinking water.

Chicago was once a major hub of film production, but being silent film you don’t hear much about it.

A goddess-topped water fountain in Chicago was created thanks to the dreams of a thirsty newsboy.

A military museum and library dedicated to the citizen soldier.

This landmark of the Chicago silent film industry may not be in the picture business anymore but it still stands proudly.

This cheerfully-named branch of the Chicago River is the fetid result of years of blood, entrails, and meatpacking waste.

This bronze sculpture on a former squash court marks the secret origins of the Atomic Age.

The 606 is a decade in the making.

Years of archaeology, just chillin' by the water cooler.

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

The site of the first couple's first kiss is commemorated by the most adorable presidential monument ever.

A hollow cement depiction of time's inexorable effect on the human body.

A haunting statue called "Eternal Silence" has quite the reputation among visitors with active imaginations.

An enormous park-like oasis, full of famous Chicagoans' graves.

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

This whimsical Oz-themed park had a wonderful impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

Huge abstract sculptures of the Puerto Rican Flag.

Internationally known record store and purveyor of "dusties."

All of Chicago's wood-paved streets are long gone but two alleys remain.

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