Hammond, Indiana

Look to your left at the American Sheet and Tin Mill Apartment Building, and you’re seeing one of Gary’s original “Edison Concept Houses.” These weren’t just buildings; they were a bold vision for affordable worker…

One of the great untold stories in American music starts in a Gary record shop. Vivian Carter was a Gary radio personality who, with her husband James Bracken, ran Vivian's Record Shop. In 1953 they launched their own…

For one weekend in 1972, this struggling steel city became the center of Black political life in America. It started in 1967, when Gary elected Richard G. Hatcher as mayor. He became one of the first Black mayors of a…

Witness the rise and fall of a planned industrial city in this historic downtown district. This isn't just any city center; it's the heart of a dream. Back in 1906, U.S. Steel literally built Gary from the ground up,…

Imagine the bustling crowds of travelers who once passed through this grand, now-abandoned train station. Gary Union Station opened in 1910, serving multiple railway lines including the Baltimore & Ohio. It was designed…

For one of the most unexpected meals in Gary, you don't go downtown, you go out by the interstate, to a little spot called the Balkan Grill Company, run out of a truck-stop location. It was opened by a Serbian immigrant…

Once a thriving high school, this historic building now stands as a reminder of Gary's boom and bust. Look out your window at the imposing structure. Emerson High School was a public high school that opened its doors in…

America's most famous company town, built by George Pullman for his sleeping car workers, and site of the 1894 Pullman Strike.

Ever wonder what it'd be like to live in a town completely designed and run by your employer? Here's your chance to find out. Pullman National Historical Park is a preserved example of just that: a company town built by…

This unassuming house holds a key to understanding how Blue Island, Illinois, came to be. It was built for a man named Joshua P. Young. In 1852, Young, a land developer, built this house. He wasn't just developing Blue…

Look out your window! You're approaching a place that once held a terrifying secret, a disease that haunted the nation. This is the Lake County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, built in 1930, a silent witness to a battle…

These aren't your typical Chicago bungalows; they're part of a planned community with a mission. Back in 1919, Chicago was facing a serious housing shortage after World War I. A group of prominent businessmen, including…

Feast your eyes on a slice of Chicago history defined by its charming, uniform, yet surprisingly individual homes. You're cruising through the South Shore Bungalow Historic District, a collection of over 200 Chicago…

Some of the prettiest land in Gary, the dunes and lagoons of Marquette Park and Miller Woods, was once held by a woman the papers called the Squatter Queen. Drusilla arrived on the lonely Miller lakefront in 1872, back…

Long before the Wright brothers flew, men were already gliding off the sand dunes here on Gary's lakefront. In June 1896, a brilliant railroad engineer named Octave Chanute brought a crew by train out to Miller, a…

Imagine Amelia Earhart, a legend in aviation, once graced this very spot! The Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium, originally the Lakefront Park Bathhouse, opened in 1921 as a place for beachgoers to clean up after a day at…

Check out these apartment buildings; they're a rare example of how Chicago's South Shore neighborhood was developing in the 1920s. Back then, apartments were becoming super popular with middle-class families. South…

Take a look around – you're driving through a slice of Chicago history! This is the West Chatham Bungalow Historic District, a testament to Chicago's booming early 1900s. Between 1913 and 1930, hundreds of these brick…

Over in Gary's Miller neighborhood, on South Lake Street, a big mural celebrates the brothers who turned this steel town into a music legend: the Jackson 5. The full family that came out of one small Gary house is…

Imagine Barack and Michelle Obama celebrating their wedding reception right here. This grand building, now the South Shore Cultural Center, was once the exclusive South Shore Country Club. Established in the early…

Imagine escaping the Chicago heat to a sprawling summer home, built for one of the guys who literally invented mail-order retail. This is the George R. Thorne House. In 1899, George R. Thorne, a co-founder of Montgomery…

Ever wonder what affordable homeownership looked like in Chicago a century ago? You're driving through it! This is the South Park Manor Historic District, a collection of over 250 Chicago bungalows. Between 1915 and…

Imagine a park so grand, it once housed a world's fair! That's Jackson Park. Back in 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition, a massive event showcasing inventions, cultures, and architecture. Jackson Park…

This isn't just another apartment complex; Parkway Gardens, also known as O Block, has a story woven into Chicago's hip-hop culture and the city's ongoing struggle with poverty and violence. Built between 1950 and 1955,…

Imagine some of America's most iconic sculptures being born right here. This is Lorado Taft's Midway Studios. Taft, a prominent sculptor, established his studio here in 1906, transforming existing barns and a Victorian…

Ever wonder where groundbreaking science happens? Right here, at the Frank R. Lillie House, a National Historic Landmark! Frank R. Lillie, born in 1870, was a major figure in embryology. He lived in this house on the…

You're approaching a landmark that revolutionized American architecture: the Robie House. Built in 1910 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Frederick Robie, this house is a prime example of the Prairie School style. Robie wanted…

Check out that sleek building! The Promontory Apartments are a major landmark because this skyscraper was the first designed by the influential architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Chicago. The Promontory Apartments, a…

You're passing the former home of a man who helped unlock the secrets of the atom and changed the course of World War II. From 1928 to 1945, this house at 5637 South Woodlawn Avenue was the residence of physicist Arthur…

Ever wonder what it felt like when Chicago showed the world what it could do? You're near the spot where the Hotel Windermere stood, a grand dame built for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This hotel wasn't just a place…

Ever wonder what it's like to live inside a castle? Well, maybe not a *real* castle, but Snell-Hitchcock comes pretty close! These two Gothic-style residence halls at the University of Chicago, Snell built in 1892 and…

On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi achieved the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in a squash court under the football stands at the University of Chicago.

At the corner of 63rd and Wallace, on Chicago's South Side, there is now a post office. In 1893, during the World's Columbian Exposition, the three-story building on this lot belonged to a man calling himself H. H.…

Step back in time at this historic apartment hotel, a relic of Chicago's booming early 20th century. The Hotel Del Prado was built in 1918. It's the oldest of several apartment hotels constructed in Hyde Park during the…

Get ready to cruise through a neighborhood that's shaped Chicago's intellectual and political landscape! The Hyde Park–Kenwood Historic District, nestled on the South Side, isn't just pretty architecture; it's a living…

The Georgian Revival home in the Kenwood neighborhood where Barack and Michelle Obama lived from 2005 until moving to the White House in 2009.

Feast your eyes on the Heller House, a striking example of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural genius! It showcases his innovative Prairie School design principles. Commissioned by Isidore H. Heller, a local merchant,…

Step back in time at this 1830s sawmill and grist mill, a vital part of early Indiana life. You're approaching the John Wood Old Mill. This isn't just an old building; it's a window into the founding of Lake County.…

Ever wonder how city parks became the green oases they are today? Sherman Park offers a glimpse into that history. Designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers, sons of the architect behind Central Park, and celebrated…

Imagine a haven of hope amid the harsh realities of the Great Migration: that's the story of Rosenwald Court Apartments. In the 1920s, Julius Rosenwald, the head of Sears, Roebuck and Co., partnered with community…

Imagine a Chicago mansion built on meat. The Swift House, right here, embodies the wealth and power of the city's booming meatpacking industry in the late 19th century. Built in 1892, the house was commissioned by…

This seemingly ordinary field was once a critical line of defense against potential Soviet bombers. Nike Missile Site C-47 was part of a network of anti-aircraft missile sites built around major US cities during the…

Right here, at 445 East 42nd Street, stands a house that witnessed medical history. It was once the home of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a true pioneer in medicine. In 1893, Dr. Williams, a Black surgeon at Chicago's…

Take a look around! You're driving through a slice of Chicago history, a neighborhood almost entirely made up of classic Chicago bungalows. Between 1919 and 1931, this area of Gage Park exploded with new construction,…

Ever heard of Goldblatt's? It was more than just a department store; it was a Chicago institution. Founded in 1914, the Goldblatt brothers started small, but their focus on value resonated with Chicagoans. They expanded…

See that brick building? It's the South Side Community Art Center, a vital piece of Chicago's artistic soul. Back in 1940, during the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration helped establish community art…

You're near the final resting place of a man who almost became president instead of Abraham Lincoln: Stephen Douglas. Douglas, a powerful senator from Illinois, famously debated Lincoln in 1858. These debates, focused…

Stand beneath the last remnant of Chicago's infamous Union Stock Yards, once the heart of the nation's meatpacking industry. This very gate was the grand entrance to a world that fed a nation. Designed around 1875 by…

Chicago was once the hog butcher for the world, and this limestone gate is the last remnant of the operation that earned that title. The Union Stock Yards opened in 1865 on 375 acres of swampy prairie on the South Side.…

You're near a spot that honors unsung heroes: the Victory Monument. It stands as a tribute to the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, an African American unit that fought bravely in World War I. In 1927,…

Right here stood a symbol of pride and perseverance: the Eighth Regiment Armory. It was the first armory in the entire country built specifically for an African-American military regiment. The Eighth Regiment, also…

Pull over for a sec, you're passing a place considered the birthplace of gospel music. This building was originally built as a synagogue, Kehilath Anshe Ma'arav, back in 1890. Pilgrim Baptist Church moved in later and…

Prepare to be awestruck by architectural simplicity! S. R. Crown Hall is a temple to minimalist design, a testament to the vision of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Mies van der Rohe, who led IIT's architecture program,…

Step back in time to the Ramova Theater, a monument to Chicago's immigrant history! Built in 1929 by Jokūbas Maskoliūnas, a Lithuanian immigrant, this theater was more than just a place to watch movies. It was a symbol…

Imagine this: a building that once echoed with the laughter and camaraderie of a Jewish social club, right here in Chicago's Douglas neighborhood. That's Unity Hall. Built in 1887, it was originally the Lakeside Club, a…

Ever wonder how Chicago became such a manufacturing powerhouse? This spot marks a key piece of that story. Back in the early 1900s, the Central Manufacturing District was booming, one of the first planned industrial…

The legendary recording studio where Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, and Etta James created the Chicago blues sound that became rock and roll.

Pull over here for a second; this spot is sacred ground for Chicago's Black community. Quinn Chapel AME Church, right here, is the oldest African-American congregation in the city. It all started back in 1844, when…

The South Side home of Muddy Waters from 1954 until his death in 1983, designated a Chicago landmark in 2013.

Ever wonder why this stretch of Michigan Avenue feels a little different? You're cruising through Motor Row, once the beating heart of Chicago's early automobile industry. Between 1905 and 1936, this area became a hub,…

This stunning house offers a glimpse into the opulent architecture of Chicago's past. Built in 1870, it was commissioned by Otis L. Wheelock for Calvin Wheeler. Located in the Near South Side neighborhood, the house…

Imagine the opulence of Chicago's Gilded Age as you stroll through this district, once home to the city's wealthiest families. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Prairie Avenue blossomed into the city's most…

Chicago's story begins with its unlikely geography. Carved out by glaciers, the flat landscape made it uniquely suited to become a transportation nexus. The Chicago River, barely a trickle at first, was engineered to…