This alley in downtown Chicago held the bodies of over 600 people after the fateful Iroquois Theatre fire.

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

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

What's left of the ruins of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition, or World's Fair, also known as the White City.

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

This overgrown Illinois water park offers a whole new type of adventure.

Urban explorers embraced America's now demolished first suburban mall, south of Chicago.

A small abandoned and abused cemetery that has become a magnet for ghost hunters.

Former meatpacking facility turned vertical farm and sustainable business complex.

The famous author's birthplace is preserved in a town that he once described as narrow-minded.

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

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

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

What was once the second largest steel mill in the US is now a sprawling complex of modern ruins.

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

Once an ambitious nature spa, these forest ruins now provide a serene monument to failure.

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