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

This national park dedicated to the tallgrass prairie ecosystem still displays its military past.

This historic Illinois "Muffler Man" has been converted from axe-touting lumberjack to rocket-wielding space ace.

This tiny historic jail along Route 66 is the perfect fit for exactly one criminal and their partner-in-crime.

This rare female version of the Muffler Man has its clothes removed each summer to signal the start of pool season.

Tiny treasures, giant murals, and strange sculptures decorate the windows and doors of this abandoned building.

The world's third-largest scale model of the planets.

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

A massive bur oak tree believed to be some 500 years old is the centerpiece of this quiet urban greenspace.

One of two identical monuments marking the sites of military training encampments in Peoria, Illinois.

The remnants of Peoria's proud baseball past stand slightly abandoned, but not forgotten.

This graveyard is home to the so-called "Witch's Circle."