Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

The twin towers in this Chicago fountain use 50 foot tall video screens to spit on people.

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

At Chicago's revered Field Museum, visitors are invited to learn about and literally explore DNA.

A military museum and library dedicated to the citizen soldier.

A hollow cement depiction of time's inexorable effect on the human body.

Illegal drag racing two stories beneath Chicago’s streets.

These pretty kitties killed and ate as many as 135 railway workers.

A little-known subterranean street runs under some of the best-known buildings in Chicago's River North.

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

A science teacher's dream.

This museum celebrating the almighty dollar lets visitors literally stand in the shadow of a million bucks.

An unassuming store hides relics of its former life as the jazz club that hosted some of the best black performers of the 1920s and '30s.

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

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

Not to be confused with the iconic New York City skyscraper, this Chicago building is a vibrant hub for artists.

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

Huge abstract sculptures of the Puerto Rican Flag.

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

The world's only known button museum.

A lush green oasis in the middle of Chicago.

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

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