"No writer ever gave more to a city and got back less.”

A Japanese temple, old German townhouses, and public chess tables offer a peaceful escape from the bustle of the North Side.

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

The oldest house in Chicago certainly doesn't look the part and there are some who say it doesn't deserve its title either.

A military museum and library dedicated to the citizen soldier.

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

An eccentric park and pool.

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

This awkward aquarium sculpture is one of the strangest statues in Chicago.

Rifle through images of skyscrapers, Worlds Fairs, and more in the largest public postcard repository in America.

This small, but long-running hobby club has built one of the largest model rail lines in the US.

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

Former bath house turns gastropub.

You can take a class, browse the library, or visit the lavish lair of an international men's humor society.

The 30,000-volume library is one of the world's most impressive poetry collections.

A strange and haunting monument of unknown origin in the historic Graceland Cemetery.

These mansions date back to Chicago's days as a brewer's paradise.

An outdoor urban gallery of large-scale artworks by the world's most influential street artists.

This surprising gem is a world-class archeological museum hidden at the University of Chicago.

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

An avant garde art museum at the University of Chicago.

One-of-a-kind preserved ruins of an abandoned 1880s church in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

First planned industrial community in the United States.