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

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

In a historic steel foundry east of the Mississippi River, thousands of wooden crates hold the architectural remnants of buildings long gone but not forgotten.

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

The oldest house in Galena, Illinois, now is a reminder of when this city was the world's lead mining capital.

The faint remains of a Polish news empire still linger.

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

This house renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright was the centerpiece of a lavish 20th-century estate.

Where a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel, and a recluse met one Saturday and changed their lives forever.

This folk art wall claims to be the world's one and only memorial to the bygone age of hippies.

A collection of 11 million buttons illustrates the human toll of the Holocaust.

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 hidden grotto on the grounds of the Kane County Government Center.

Museum dedicated to the art of cutting and polishing stones.

Orthodox church partially financed by Tsar Nicolas II.

Arguably the best example of an authentic Dutch windmill in the United States, rivaling its counterparts in the Netherlands.

Spanking machines, fake goats, and more devices of humiliation are on display in this museum of fraternal initiation devices.

This landmark of the Chicago silent film industry may not be in the picture business anymore but it still stands proudly.

Over 1,000 pieces of one of the most niche art objects imaginable: the glass paperweight.

A river with some unusual, and occasionally dangerous, habits.

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

Eclectic collection of rare and beautiful stones in a historic home.

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

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