This historic estate on the east shore of Lake Tahoe was home to an eccentric millionaire (and his pet elephant, Mingo).

Though its branches are painted bright colors by generations of locals, the tree is said to be a haunted portal to hell.

A subterranean world of tunnels links several buildings of this rare 19th-century asylum.

A whimsical folk art garden full of punny pieces and a diorama containing 3,500 toys.

The Kalamazoo factory has 100 years of instrument-making, and one big wartime secret.

The faint remains of a Polish news empire still linger.

Assemble a masterpiece at the first and only North American school exclusively dedicated to mosaic art.

The original Garfield station is the oldest station facility on the "L", with the station house dating from 1892.

These abandoned grain silos and tunnels are an urban exploration dream.

Former bath house turns gastropub.

The final resting place of up to 6,000 Confederate soldiers, the largest mass grave in the Western Hemisphere.

Where old school Polish Chicago and young hipster Chicago live side by side.

A shining sculpture made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

In one Chicago park, a trio of werewolves are waiting to devour their fallen brethren.

These pretty kitties killed and ate as many as 135 railway workers.

A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

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

Chicago's North Park Village was once the largest municipal sanatorium in the country.

Pizza with a side of fine art.

Each of these gorgeous, intricately decorated rooms is painstakingly crafted to the scale of 1 inch: 1 foot.

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

The world's only known button museum.

What was once one of the country's largest confectionary plants is now an abandoned ruin, but is still pretty sweet.

This unauthorized stone mermaid was secretly carved out of public stone before being permanently preserved.