A contemporary fresco movement illustrates the region's rich history.

Once used as a deterrent to drinking alcohol.

Designed to commemorate the founding of the first settlement in Delaware.

The Dover International Speedway is home to a towering, concrete-skinned, racecar-hungry behemoth.

This memorial plaque remembers a strangely shallow maritime disaster known as "Chicago's Titanic."

Illegal drag racing two stories beneath Chicago’s streets.

A spectacular remnant of an Adler and Sullivan masterpiece that was destroyed in 1972.

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

In a quiet north Chicago neighborhood rests a stunning relic of the golden age of earthenware design.

A 400-foot-tall tall map of Chicago makes this once-ignored building stand out.

Four glass boxes hover over 1,000 feet in the air to give visitors an unparalleled view of Chicago.

A journey begins with a single step, and for many, the road-trip of a lifetime started at this Chicago intersection.

This historic hotel invented the chocolate brownie.

A hidden courtyard houses early 20th-century plaster masterpieces.

North America's largest accredited model railroad museum.

Built for an exposition in 1915, these horticultural displays have stood the test of time.

Two men, two visionaries of Venice Beach, one little hotel that smells like cookies.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

Magical-looking cottages that inspired one of the most famous animated films ever.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.