Once known as the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane.

The inconspicuous grave of the University of Illinois' first president is just steps from the main quadrangle.

These Depression-era WPA sculptures have made a couple of stops over the years.

Designed by Alfred Caldwel, this landscape showcases his vision of a native garden.

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

This unassuming city park is home to three different types of Native American mounds.

Grand opera on a miniature scale.

The faint remains of a Polish news empire still linger.

Location of the Real World's disastrous, and protested, eleventh season.

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

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

One of the few remaining relics of the meatpacking hub that made Chicago the "hog butcher to the world."

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

Cold War missile launch site which has been converted to a public park.

You have to love a museum with a truly dedicated focus. A focus on Superman, for example.

One of the last functioning antique elevators in Chicago.

You can take a class, browse the library, or visit the lavish lair of an international men's humor society.

Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

A fairytale art house in the middle of Wisconsin.

Five acres of divinely inspired folk art.

The remains of a enormous earthen figure of unknown origins cuts across a rural Wisconsin road.

Statue dedicated to the star of an old television show.

The original vault that held the president's remains still stands, empty, not far from where he was finally buried.