Inside the center are Italian works of art and a replica model of St. Peter's Basilica.

A towering Art Deco movie palace made to look like a Mayan temple.

A beloved Chicago music venue offering cold beer and lots of “Friendly."

This historic store hides a museum exhibiting a shoe-sizing x-ray machine and a pair of kicks that once belonged to the world's tallest man.

The clothes-washing king doubles as a community center with some unusual features, including an aviary filled with finches.

A plaque marks a former safe house on the secret route, now hidden next to a McDonald's.

First planned industrial community in the United States.

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

The world's largest collection of the world's largest objects is in one small Illinois town.

A unique outdoor timepiece at a "clothing-optional" resort.

The final resting place of the world's first nuclear reactor.

A warning to the weak-kneed: This narrow bridge does its swinging eight stories high.

A sprawling outdoor museum filled with larger-than-life works of art.

This former nursery supplied plants for the creation of Chicago's largest park.

World's second largest particle accelerator, where nature reveals its secrets.

An exhibit of items from the mental institution where Mary Todd Lincoln lived after her son conspired to have her committed.

The 40-year-old machine serves soda quicker than you can catch it for a mere 75 cents a pop.

The legacy of an unsolved, gruesome murder rests beneath the spans of this historic bridge.

This monolithic statue was erected in honor of Chief Black Hawk (even if it wasn't made to look like him).

A historic and oft-filmed prison stands in a Chicago suburb.

An abandoned observatory in the middle of the Illinois prairie.

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

Built in 1869, this now-retired structure looks more like a medieval fortress than a county lock-up.

This historic lavatory leftover features two levels of defecation stations completely without context.