A source of civic pride, though the reason for its construction is unknown.

One of the finest examples of a black soil prairie that was barely saved by the Great Depression.

A one-armed veteran of the Battle of Waterloo lies in a cemetery for one in the middle of a Chicago scrapyard.

Burial mounds of prehistoric Native Americans who lived along the DuPage River.

A replica viking ship from the Chicago World's Fair is still in dry dock in an Illinois park.

It was originally part of a "terrible lizards" collection at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

Julia Buccola Petta's body was peculiarly well-preserved when it was exhumed six years after her death.

The large rock formation where the Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa stood and encouraged his warriors during the Battle of Tippecanoe.

This monument remembers one of the manliest men of the frontier who fought a grizzly before dragging himself 200 miles to safety.

An entire city block built completely out of petrified wood.

One man's quest to save his town with a trail of record-breaking sculptures.

An amazing collection of scale model ships.

The house is an iconic pilgrimage site for fans of the Illinois-based emo band.

The oldest experimental corn field in America is still creating better ways to grow crops.

Fragments of a massive unfinished sculpture sit near the main quad of the University of Illinois.

The inconspicuous grave of the University of Illinois' first president is just steps from the main quadrangle.

Honoring Italian greats from Joe DiMaggio to Rocky Marciano.

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

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

One of the few remaining relics of the meatpacking hub that made Chicago the "hog butcher to the world."

A 19th-century horse lover's bequest led to the construction of this unique fountain in Chicago.

This historic-shipwreck-cum-diving-spot can still be seen poking its boiler out of the Lake Michigan waters that claimed it.

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

An unassuming store hides relics of its former life as the jazz club that hosted some of the best black performers of the 1920s and '30s.