"CHICAGO'S WESTERN SUBURBS-- FROM PRARIE SOIL TO PRARIE STYLE," IS PROVIDED BY HARRIS.

(NARRATOR) A LOT OF FINE OLD BANKING NAMES HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM CHICAGOLAND.

AFTER MORE THAN 100 YEARS, HARRIS, IS GOING STRONG IN NEIGHBORHOODS ALL OVER CHICAGOLAND.

HARRIS IS HELPING BUSINESSES FROM START-UPS TO 50 YEAR OLD COMPANIES-- SETTING CUSTOMERS UP WITH CHECKING ACCOUNTS-- HELPING MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE.

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, CHICAGO'S HOMETOWN BANK IS HERE FOR YOU TODAY AND TOMORROW.

LION POWER-- WITH YOU ALL THE WAY.

(GEOFFERY BAER) IN THE REGION WEST OF CHICAGO YOU'LL FIND A GREAT AMERICAN ZOO IN BROOKFIELD, THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF THE GREAT AMERICAN HAMBURGER, MCDONALD'S IN OAK BROOK, AND THE BEST COLLECTION ANYWHERE OF BUILDINGS BY THE GREAT AMERICAN ARCHITECT, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT IN OAK PARK.

ON THIS JOURNEY WEST OF CHICAGO, HERE'S JUST SOME OF WHAT YOU'LL SEE AND LEARN ABOUT: AL CAPONE IN CICERO.

HOW THE DESIGNER OF NEW YORK'S CENTRAL PARK CREATED RIVERSIDE-- THE ENTIRE VILLAGE IS A NATIONAL LANDMARK.

MORTON ARBORETUM.

A FAMOUS PET PARADE IN LAGRANGE.

THE MARX BROTHERS FAILED ATTEMPT AT FARMING IN WHAT IS NOW COUNTRYSIDE.

MORRIS THE CAT.

AND ONE OF TOULOUSE LAUTREC'S FAVORITE MODELS, BOTH FROM HINSDALE.

AND SEARS MAIL ORDER HOMES IN DOWNERS GROVE.

CELEBRITIES IN WHEATON FROM BILLY GRAHAM TO JOHN BELUSHI.

THE WORLD FAMOUS GLEN ELLYN CHILDREN'S CHORUS.

LILACS IN LOMBARD.

THE FATHERS OF THE TWINKIE, THE MARS BAR AND KOOL-AID ALL FROM RIVER FOREST.

THE ORIGINAL KIDDIELAND IN MELROSE PARK, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

I'M GEOFFREY BAER.

JOIN ME FOR A JOURNEY WEST OF CHICAGO.

[TRAIN WHISTLE] THE TOUR BEGINS IN CICERO AND PROCEEDS WESTWARD ALONG CHICAGO'S SECOND OLDEST RAILROAD LINE, ORIGINALLY CALLED THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY.

IT'S NOW METRA'S BURLINGTON LINE... AT NAPERVILLE WE LEAVE THE RAILROAD AND HEAD NORTH ALONG THE DUPAGE RIVER THROUGH WARRENVILLE TO WEST CHICAGO.

FROM THERE WE HEAD EAST ON CHICAGO'S OLDEST RAILROAD, KNOWN FOR MOST OF ITS HISTORY AS THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN.

WE FINISH OUR TOUR IN HISTORIC OAK PARK.

YOU PROBABLY WERE NOT EXPECTING OUR CHAPTER ON CICERO TO BEGIN IN A BUDDHIST TEMPLE.

CICERO SEEMS LIKE AN UNLIKELY PLACE FOR ONE.

BUT ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS SERENE GROUP TOLD ME THAT THE BUDDHISTS AND THEIR BLUE COLLAR TOWN HAVE A CONNECTION.

SHE SAID THEIR BRANCH OF BUDDHISM COMES FROM A REGION OF TIBET THAT'S HOME TO BANDITS AND OUTLAWS.

AND CICERO, OF COURSE, HAS A ROUGH TOUGH REPUTATION DATING FROM ITS DAYS AS THE HEADQUARTERS OF AL CAPONE.

CAPONE USED CICERO AS HIS BASE OF OPERATIONS IN THE 1920S.

CAPONE CONTROLLED ELECTIONS THERE, SO THERE WAS NO CHANCE THE TOWN WOULD VOTE FOR REFORM.

CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT CONTINUED AS RECENTLY AS 2003 WHEN TOWN PRESIDENT BETTY LOREN MALTESE WAS CONVICTED OF RACKETEERING, CONSPIRACY AND FRAUD AND WAS SENTENCED TO A LITTLE MORE THAN EIGHT YEARS IN JAIL.

THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE 20TH CENTURY, VIRTUALLY EVERY TELEPHONE IN AMERICA WAS MADE IN CICERO, ILLINOIS.

THEY WERE MADE AT WESTERN ELECTRIC'S HAWTHORNE WORKS.

IT WAS A CITY WITHIN A CITY WITH AS MANY AS 20,000 WORKERS, THE MAJORITY EASTERN EUROPEAN.

THE PLANT HAD A HOSPITAL, FIRE BRIGADE, A BRASS BAND AND EVEN AN ANNUAL BEAUTY PAGEANT.

IN ADDITION TO TELEPHONES, THE FACTORY ALSO PRODUCED THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL SOUND SYSTEM FOR THE MOVIES.

AND A WIDE ARRAY OF OTHER ELECTRIC GADGETS INCLUDING SEWING MACHINES, VACUUM CLEANERS AND RADAR EQUIPMENT.

TODAY, THIS WATER TOWER IS ALL THAT'S LEFT OF IT.

THE HAWTHORNE PLANT CLOSED IN 1984.

THE SITE IS NOW A SHOPPING CENTER.

LIKE MANY NEAR WEST SUBURBS, CICERO HAS SEEN DRAMATIC ETHNIC CHANGE IN RECENT YEARS.

AS OF 2000, THE POPULATION WAS 77% HISPANIC.

CICERO IS THE FIRST STOP BEYOND CHICAGO'S CITY LIMITS ON THE REGION'S SECOND OLDEST RAILROAD.

TODAY, IT'S METRA'S BURLINGTON COMMUTER LINE.

WHEN IT OPENED IN 1850, IT WAS CALLED THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY.

BUT MOST PEOPLE JUST CALLED IT "THE Q."

WE'LL TRAVEL THE BURLINGTON ROUTE FOR THE FIRST HALF OF OUR TOUR... OUR NEXT STOP IS BERWYN.

IT'S THE HOME OF "SPINDLE" IN CERMAK PLAZA SHOPPING CENTER BY LOS ANGELES SCULPTOR DUSTIN SHULER.

THOSE ARE REAL CARS UP THERE.

GUTTED AND SKEWERED.

YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE THE SCULPTURE FROM A CAMEO APPEARANCE IN MIKE MYERS' FEATURE FILM "WAYNE'S WORLD."

CERMAK PLAZA OWNER DAVID BERMANT COMMISSIONED IT IN 1989 FOR $75,000.

BERMANT IS THE MEDICI OF MALLS JUDGING FROM THE ARRAY OF ART THAT HE'S COMMISSIONED HERE.

INCLUDING KINETIC AND SOUND SCULPTURES.

PINTO PELT, IS A CAR BODY SPREAD OUT LIKE AN ANIMAL SKIN.

BERWYN'S HISTORY BEGINS IN 1890, WHEN TWO SHREWD DEVELOPERS BUILT THIS TRAIN STATION AT NO COST TO THE RAILROAD, SO THEY COULD ADVERTISE EASY ACCESS TO THE CITY FOR HOMEBUYERS.

NOW ALL THEY NEEDED WAS A NAME FOR THE TOWN THEY WERE DEVELOPING HERE.

SO THEY GOT SOME RAILROAD TIMETABLES FROM THE STATION AGENT.

IN THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD TIMETABLE THEY FOUND BERWYN, A WELL-TO-DO PHILADELPHIA MAIN LINE TOWN, NOTED FOR ITS FINE GARDENS AND SCENIC SETTING.

THEY DECIDED THIS WAS THE PERFECT NAME.

THE POPULATION BOOMED IN THE 1920S.

MANY WERE EASTERN EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS, ESPECIALLY CZECHS, WHO SCRIMPED AND SAVED FOR THEIR AMERICAN DREAM.

CERMAK ROAD WAS CALLED THE BOHEMIAN WALL STREET BECAUSE SO MANY BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS WERE LOCATED THERE.

THOSE INSTITUTIONS FINANCED MANY OF THE BEAUTIFUL BUNGALOWS THAT BERWYN IS FAMOUS FOR TODAY.

THE ANNUAL HOUBY DAYS MAY BE THE ONLY CELEBRATION HONORING A FUNGUS.

HOUBY IS THE CZECH WORD FOR MUSHROOM.

THE CELEBRATION INCLUDES A PARADE AND THE CROWNING OF A HOUBY QUEEN.

A LOT OF PEOPLE ATTENDING THIS CZECH FESTIVAL IN BERWYN ARE NOW HISPANIC.

AS WE'LL SEE, BERWYN IS ANOTHER OF MANY NEAR WEST CHICAGO SUBURBS THAT HAVE UNDERGONE DRAMATIC ETHNIC CHANGE IN RECENT YEARS.

♪♪ REMEMBER THIS POP HIT FROM THE IDES OF MARCH?

JIM PETERIK AND SOME OF HIS MORTON WEST HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES FORMED THE BAND IN THE LATE 1960S.

AFTER THE IDES OF MARCH DISBANDED, PETERIK FORMED THE BAND SURVIVOR.

RIVERSIDE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PLANNED SUBURBS IN THE COUNTRY.

MOST COMMUNITIES ARE PROUD TO HAVE ONE BUILDING DESIGNATED AS A NATIONAL LANDMARK.

BUT THE ENTIRE VILLAGE OF RIVERSIDE IS A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK HONORING AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL PLANNING.

THE CITY PLAN FROM 1868 IS BY THE SAME TEAM THAT DESIGNED NEW YORK'S CENTRAL PARK, FREDRICK LAW OLMSTED AND CALVERT VAUX.

THE WINDING STREETS RELATE TO RIVERSIDE'S MOST DRAMATIC FEATURE, A SWEEPING BEND IN THE DES PLAINES RIVER WHERE SALT CREEK FLOWS INTO IT.

THE PLANNERS RESERVED 44% OF THE VILLAGE FOR PUBLIC OPEN SPACE.

A GRAND PARK SYSTEM FOLLOWS THE WINDING RIVER.

AFTER RETIRING, OLMSTED DEVELOPED A FORM OF DEMENTIA.

HE SPENT THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE AS A PATIENT IN AN ASYLUM.

IRONICALLY, HE HAD DESIGNED THE GROUNDS FOR THAT ASYLUM EARLIER IN HIS CAREER.

OLMSTED AND VAUX SUPPLIED THE SETTING FOR WORKS BY MANY OF CHICAGO'S MOST IMPORTANT ARCHITECTS INCLUDING, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

WRIGHT CALLED THIS HOUSE HIS MOST SUCCESSFUL DESIGN.

WEALTHY INDUSTRIALIST AVERY COONLEY AND HIS WIFE, GAVE WRIGHT FREE HAND AND AN ALMOST UNLIMITED BUDGET TO CREATE IT IN 1909.

THE ROMANESQUE STYLE VILLAGE HALL WAS BUILT IN 1895.

THE PICTURESQUE TRAIN STATION IN 1901.

THE WATER TOWER BY WILLIAM LA BARON JENNEY WAS USED FOR 134 YEARS, FROM 1870 UNTIL 2004.

THE WELL HOUSE IS NOW A MUSEUM.

THE STREETLIGHTS ARE STILL GAS AS THEY WERE WHEN RIVERSIDE WAS BUILT.

AN ORDINANCE PASSED IN THE EARLY 1920S LIMITS DENSITY AND LAND USE AND PRESERVES THE CHARACTER OF THE VILLAGE.

BUT BUILDING CODES COULDN'T PROTECT THIS ELITE ENCLAVE FROM THE NOISE OF CAROUSERS ACROSS THE RIVER IN LYONS.

THIS TOWER IS A MONUMENT TO LYONS' HISTORY AS A PARTY TOWN.

THE TOWER WAS THE CENTERPIECE OF A PARK ALONG THE DES PLAINES RIVER THAT OFFERED A CARNIVAL, BOAT RIDES, PICNICS, BEER, FOOD, MUSIC AND DANCING.

A LOCAL BREWER NAMED GEORGE HOFMANN JR., BUILT THE TOWER IN 1908.

HOFMANN WORE STYLISH CLOTHES, SMOKED A BIG BLACK CIGAR, AND TRAVELED IN HIS OWN CHAUFFEUR-DRIVEN LIMOUSINE.

AT EIGHT STORIES, HOFMANN TOWER WAS THE TALLEST BUILDING OUTSIDE OF CHICAGO WHEN IT WAS BUILT, SO IT WAS VISIBLE FOR MILES AROUND.

THE INTERIOR WAS NEVER COMPLETED.

HOFMANN'S AMUSEMENT BUSINESS LASTED ONLY TEN YEARS HERE.

BUT IT WASN'T TEMPERANCE THAT SHUT HIM DOWN-- IT WAS POLLUTION.

COMMUNITIES UPSTREAM STARTED USING THE DES PLAINES RIVER AS A SEWER, WHICH RUINED HOFMANN'S RIVER EDGE ENTERPRISE.

BUT THERE WERE PLENTY OF OTHER PLACES TO PARTY IN LYONS, INCLUDING AN AMUSEMENT PARK CALLED CREAM CITY.

AN ATTEMPT TO VOTE THE TOWN DRY IN 1908 WAS DEFEATED 244 TO 14.

MY FAVORITE LOCAL ATTRACTION WAS THE "WHOOPIE COASTER," A WOODEN ROLLER COASTER-LIKE TRACK WHERE YOU USED YOUR OWN CAR!

THE MAXIMUM SPEED WAS FIVE MILES AN HOUR.

AS RECENTLY AS THE 1980S, OGDEN AVENUE WAS LINED WITH STRIP CLUBS AND BARS WITH NAMES LIKE GIGI-A-GO-GO, PICCADILLY CIRCUS, MICHAEL'S MAGIC TOUCH AND CLUB ALGIERS.

THE STRIP WAS ALSO A NOTORIOUS RED-LIGHT DISTRICT WITH ALLEGED ILLEGAL GAMBLING AND MOB TIES.

IN FRONTIER DAYS, OGDEN AVENUE WAS THE MAIN OVERLAND TRAIL THAT BROUGHT SETTLERS HERE.

BUT IT WAS A CANAL THAT REALLY PUT LYONS ON THE MAP.

IT WAS CALLED THE ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL BUILT IN 1848.

IT CONNECTED THE DES PLAINES RIVER AT LYONS WITH THE CHICAGO RIVER TO THE EAST, WHICH IN TURN CONNECTED THE GREAT LAKES TO THE MISSISSIPPI.

PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE TRAIN TO BROOKFIELD ZOO GET A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME THE MOMENT THEY DISEMBARK.

THE STATION IS MAINTAINED BY THE ZOO AND FEATURES ARTIFICIAL ROCKS JUST LIKE THE ZOO ITSELF.

WE GO TO THE ZOO TO SEE EXOTIC ANIMALS.

BUT THE WOMAN WHO FIRST DONATED THE LAND TO START THE ZOO IN 1919, WAS A PRETTY EXOTIC CHARACTER HERSELF.

EDITH ROCKEFELLER MCCORMICK WAS THE DAUGHTER OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER AND THE WIFE OF FARM MACHINE MANUFACTURER HAROLD MCCORMICK, A NOTORIOUS PLAYBOY.

SHE WAS DESCRIBED AS THE QUEEN OF CHICAGO SOCIETY DURING THE 1910S, BY AUTHOR STEPHEN BIRMINGHAM IN HIS BOOK, "THE GRANDE DAMES."

SHE BELIEVED HERSELF TO BE THE REINCARNATION OF TUTANKHAMEN'S CHILD BRIDE.

BUT HER MARRIAGE WAS UNHAPPY AND SHE WENT TO SWITZERLAND TO BE TREATED BY THE GREAT PSYCHOANALYST CARL JUNG.

SHE SPENT EIGHT YEARS THERE, DURING WHICH TIME HER HUSBAND DIVORCED HER.

WHILE IN EUROPE, SHE SAW A NEW KIND OF ZOO-- WITHOUT BARS.

SHE STARTED DREAMING OF BUILDING A BAR-LESS ZOO BACK HOME IN CHICAGO.

BUT AFTER DONATING THE LAND, SHE SEEMED TO LOSE INTEREST IN THE ZOO.

INSTEAD, SHE BOUGHT A LARGE PARCEL OF LAKEFRONT LAND NEAR KENOSHA, WISCONSIN AND STARTED DEVELOPING A ROARING 20S PALM BEACH-STYLE RESORT CALLED EDITHTON FOR THE VERY WEALTHY.

THAT PLAN WAS RUINED BY THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

AFTERWARDS, SHE WAS NEARLY PENNILESS AND WAS SUPPORTED BY HER BROTHER ON AN ALLOWANCE OF $1000 A DAY.

SHE DIED OF CANCER AT AGE 60 AFTER TRYING IN VAIN TO CURE HERSELF THROUGH PSYCHOLOGY.

BROOKFIELD ZOO OPENED IN 1934 AS ONE OF AMERICA'S FIRST BARLESS ZOOS.

MOATS SEPARATE THE ANIMALS FROM THE PEOPLE.

ENCLOSURES ARE MADE OF NATURAL LOOKING BUT UNSCALABLE ARTIFICIAL ROCK.

ANIMALS BEGAN ARRIVING IN 1933.

MANY WERE DONATED FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS.

SOME WERE UNWANTED PETS, INCLUDING DOZENS OF ALLIGATORS!

GRACE OLIVE WILEY BROUGHT HER PERSONAL COLLECTION OF 236 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS.

THE ZOO HIRED HER AS A KEEPER AND LATER NAMED HER CURATOR, ONE OF THE FIRST WOMEN TO HOLD SUCH A JOB.

SOMETIMES SHE LEFT THE CAGE DOORS OPEN.

AFTER A COUPLE OF COBRAS ESCAPED, SHE WAS FIRED.

LATER, AT AGE 65, SHE WAS BITTEN BY ONE OF HER OWN COBRAS AND DIED.

ZIGGY THE ELEPHANT WAS ONCE PURCHASED BY FLORENZ ZIEGFELD, BUT NOT FOR HIS ZIEGFELD FOLLIES.

THE FAMOUS IMPRESARIO SPOTTED ZIGGY AS A 250-POUND BABY BEING UNLOADED FOR RINGLING BROTHERS CIRCUS IN NEW YORK.

HE IMMEDIATELY BOUGHT THE ELEPHANT AS A BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR HIS SIX YEAR OLD DAUGHTER.

ZEIGFELD PUT THE ELEPHANT IN THE BACK OF A TAXICAB AND TRANSPORTED HIM TO HIS LONG ISLAND ESTATE.

BUT ZIGGY QUICKLY OUTGREW HIS WELCOME AND WAS RETURNED TO THE CIRCUS.

THERE, HE JUST KEPT ON GROWING.

HE DESTROYED TWO OF HIS ENCLOSURES AND WAS FINALLY SOLD TO BROOKFIELD ZOO.

IN 1941, ZIGGY ATTACKED AND NEARLY KILLED HIS KEEPER "SLIM" LEWIS.

HIS SLENDER PHYSIQUE ALLOWED HIM TO CONTINUOUSLY DODGE THE ELEPHANT'S THRUSTING TUSKS.

LEWIS'S TEARFUL APPEAL CONVINCED THE ZOO NOT TO DESTROY ZIGGY.

INSTEAD, HE WAS CONFINED INDOORS.

A "FREE ZIGGY" CAMPAIGN BEGAN IN THE LATE 1960S.

FUNDS WERE RAISED, INCLUDING NICKELS AND DIMES FROM SCHOOL CHILDREN TO BUILD A SAFE ENCLOSURE FOR HIM.

FINALLY IN 1971, AFTER 30 YEARS, ZIGGY WAS ALLOWED BACK OUTDOORS.

HE DIED IN 1975.

SU-LIN, THE FIRST GIANT PANDA IN THE U.S., ARRIVED AT BROOKFIELD ZOO IN 1937, AND AMERICA WENT PANDA CRAZY.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE, JOHN BARRYMORE AND OTHER CELEBRITIES CAME TO SEE HER.

ADVENTURER RUTH HARKNESS BROUGHT SU-LINE BACK FROM CHINA.

HER HUSBAND HAD DIED ON THE EXPEDITION.

SEVEN POLAR BEARS SWAM TO FREEDOM IN 1969 AFTER A SUDDEN EARLY-MORNING HEAVY RAIN FLOODED THE MOAT SURROUNDING THEIR ENCLOSURE.

THEY PILLAGED THE SNACK SHOP ACROSS THE WAY WHERE THEY HAD SEEN VISITORS BUYING MARSHMALLOWS.

A NIGHT KEEPER DISCOVERED THE ESCAPE AND CALLED FOR HELP.

THE BEARS WERE HERDED BACK INTO THEIR ENCLOSURE AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PUMPED THE MOAT DRY.

IN 1961, THE ZOO OPENED THE FIRST INLAND MARINE FACILITY IN THE COUNTRY.

THE LARGER SEVEN SEAS PANORAMA REPLACED IT IN THE 1980S.

TROPIC WORLD OPENED IN 1982.

IT'S HOME TO PYGMY HIPPOS, MONKEYS AND GORILLAS.

IT FEATURES 50-FOOT TREES, RIVERS AND STREAMS, CLIFFS AND A PERIODIC RAINSTORM COMPLETE WITH THUNDER.

COOKIE THE COCKATOO IS THE LAST ANIMAL STILL ALIVE FROM THE DAY THE ZOO OPENED IN 1934.

TODAY, THE ZOO HAS NEARLY 3,000 ANIMALS FROM 450 SPECIES AND 2,000,000 VISITORS EVERY YEAR.

ANIMAL RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION CONTINUE TO BE VITAL PARTS OF ITS MISSION.

THE TOWN OF BROOKFIELD WAS ONCE CALLED GROSSDALE AFTER ITS RATHER UNPOPULAR DEVELOPER, A LAWYER AND FORMER CIVIL WAR CAPTAIN NAMED S.E.

GROSS.

HE FOUND PLENTY OF BUYERS FOR THE BEAUTIFUL VICTORIAN HOMES HE BUILT HERE.

BUT MANY OF THOSE HOMEBUYERS GOT FED UP WITH GROSS'S SELF-PROMOTING PERSONALITY.

AGAINST THE WISHES OF THE RESIDENTS, HE NAMED MORE PARTS OF THE GROWING COMMUNITY AFTER HIMSELF-- EAST GROSSDALE, WEST GROSSDALE.

AND HE NAMED STREETS FOR HIS FAMILY MEMBERS.

RESIDENTS FINALLY FORMED AN INDEPENDENT POLITICAL PARTY ON A PLATFORM OF CHANGING THE TOWN'S NAME.

THEY WON IN 1905.

HE SPENT A FORTUNE IN LAWSUITS CLAIMING THAT THE PLAY "CYRANO DE BERGERAC" WAS PLAGIARIZED FROM HIM.

AND HE WON THE SUIT.

BUT HE ONLY ACCEPTED A DOLLAR IN SETTLEMENT, BECAUSE ALL HE WAS TRYING TO DO WAS PROVE HIS CLAIM.

[TRAIN WHISTLES] ONE DAY A YEAR THE SUBURB OF LA GRANGE RIVALS ITS NEIGHBOR BROOKFIELD WHEN IT COMES TO CONSPICUOUS DISPLAY OF ANIMALS.

BETWEEN 75,000 AND 100,000 PEOPLE ATTEND THE ANNUAL LAGRANGE PET PARADE.

NEARLY A THOUSAND COSTUMED CHILDREN AND PETS PARTICIPATE.

THEY COMPETE FOR SUCH HONORS AS BEST DOG, BEST PET OTHER THAN A DOG, BEST BICYCLE, AND FUNNIEST COSTUME.

ED BREEN, "MR. PET PARADE," STARTED THE EVENT IN 1947.

HE DIED IN 2001.

FRANKLIN COSSITT BUILT LA GRANGE AFTER SUFFERING TWO SETBACKS EARLIER IN HIS LIFE; EITHER ONE OF WHICH PROBABLY WOULD HAVE DEFEATED MOST OF US.

FIRST, HE LOST HIS BELOVED TENNESSEE COTTON FARM DURING THE CIVIL WAR-- LA GRANGE IS NAMED FOR THAT FARM-- THEN HE CAME NORTH AND OPENED A WHOLESALE GROCERY BUSINESS IN CHICAGO.

THAT WAS DESTROYED IN THE GREAT FIRE.

BUT COSSITT PERSEVERED.

COSSITT ADVERTISED LA GRANGE AS A UTOPIAN RETREAT FROM THE PERCEIVED DANGERS OF THE CITY ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO.

HIS BIGGEST SELLING POINT: NO SALOONS.

TODAY, BY THE WAY, THERE ARE MORE THAN 30 RESTAURANTS IN LA GRANGE, MOST OF WHICH SERVE ALCOHOL.

MANY OLD HOMES SURVIVE AND HAVE BEEN RESTORED.

INCLUDING FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOMES FROM MANY STAGES OF HIS CAREER, AND HOMES BUILT BY LOCAL ARCHITECT, E. HILL TURNOCK.

WHEN THE MARX BROTHERS WERE JUST A BUDDING VAUDEVILLE ACT IN 1917, THEY BOUGHT A FARM SOUTH OF LA GRANGE IN WHAT IS NOW COUNTRYSIDE, AND LIVED THERE WITH THEIR MOTHER.

GROUCHO SAID IT WAS TO AVOID GETTING DRAFTED IN WORLD WAR I.

BUT THEY WERE NO KIND OF FARMERS.

IN "THE MARX BROTHERS SCRAP BOOK," GROUCHO WROTE THAT THEY BOUGHT ABOUT 200 CHICKENS, BUT THEY COULDN'T GET THEM TO LAY.

THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BE EMBARRASSED WHEN GUESTS CAME OVER, SO THEY WENT TO THE STORE AND BOUGHT SOME EGGS AND PUT THEM UNDERNEATH THE CHICKENS.

HE ALSO WROTE THAT FOR A WHILE THEY TRIED GETTING UP AT FOUR IN THE MORNING LIKE GOOD FARMERS, BUT THEY JUST REALLY WEREN'T MORNING PEOPLE.

ANYWAY, GROUCHO SAID THEY SPENT TOO MUCH TIME AT WRIGLEY FIELD TO MAKE THE FARM SUCCESSFUL.

AFTER THE WAR THEY SOLD THE FARM AND MOVED TO CHICAGO.

COMING UP... A VIRGIN PRAIRIE IN WESTCHESTER... WITH SIDEWALKS.

MORRIS THE CAT FROM HINSDALE... SEARS MAIL ORDER HOMES IN DOWNERS GROVE...

THE AMAZING MORTON ARBORETUM... A MIDNIGHT RAID IN NAPERVILLE... AND LATER...

STORIES FROM WHEATON, GLEN ELLYN, LOMBARD, ELMHURST, OAK PARK, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

THERE'S SOMETHING A LITTLE ODD ABOUT WOLF ROAD PRAIRIE IN WESTCHESTER.

AMIDST THE NATIVE GRASSES, TREES AND WETLANDS, YOU'LL FIND... 80 YEAR OLD SIDEWALKS!

THE DEVELOPMENT WAS THE DREAM OF UTILITIES BARON SAMUEL INSULL.

INSULL WAS FROM LONDON AND WANTED TO REPLICATE A MODEL ENGLISH TOWN HERE.

HE CHOSE ENGLISH NAMES FOR THE STREETS.

ONE STATION ON THE NEW "L" LINE FROM CHICAGO WAS CALLED "CANTERBURY."

THE DEPRESSION HALTED CONSTRUCTION BEFORE THE TOWN WAS FINISHED.

SO THE NATIVE PRAIRIE ALONG THE NEWLY PAVED SIDEWALKS IN THE UNBUILT AREA REMAINED UNDISTURBED.

IN 1970, SOME LOCAL CONSERVATIONISTS REALIZED THEY HAD A RARE TREASURE HERE.

LESS THAN ONE-HUNDREDTH OF ONE PERCENT OF ILLINOIS' ORIGINAL PRAIRIE REMAINS.

THEY FORMED THE SAVE THE PRAIRIE SOCIETY TO PROTECT AND MANAGE THIS PRECIOUS PARCEL.

VOLUNTEERS SPEND MANY HOURS REMOVING WOODY GROWTH AND WEEDS, COLLECTING SEEDS AND CONDUCTING EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

EXPERTS REGULARLY BURN PARTS OF THE PRAIRIE TO MIMIC THE NATURAL AND NECESSARY CYCLE OF PRAIRIE FIRES .

THIS AREA WAS SETTLED BY GERMAN IMMIGRANTS, BUT THEY NAMED IT FOR THE FRENCH.

THEY CALLED IT FRANZOSENBUSCH, WHICH MEANS FRENCHMEN'S WOODS, APPARENTLY BECAUSE THERE WAS A FRENCH-SPEAKING SETTLER WHO LIVED IN A GROVE OF TREES NEARBY.

THE RESTORED FRANZOSENBUSCH PRAIRIE HOUSE STARTED OUT AS A TWO-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE IN 1852.

IT WAS LATER EXPANDED INTO A FARMHOUSE.

[RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS] WESTERN SPRINGS WAS GIVEN ITS NAME BY THE RAILROAD TO HELP PROMOTE IT AS A HEALTH SPA.

THERE WERE IN FACT MINERAL SPRINGS IN WHAT IS TODAY SPRING ROCK PARK.

BUT THEY DRIED UP MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

NEVERTHELESS, THE TOWN'S MOST FAMOUS LANDMARK STILL HAS TO DO WITH WATER.

THIS 112-FOOT WATER TOWER MADE OF NAPERVILLE STONE WAS PART OF THE WATER WORKS THAT REPLACED THE SPRING AFTER 1892.

CITY LEADERS HAD SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN IT THAT THEY PUT THEIR OFFICES IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TOWER.

THEY WERE A LITTLE TOO CONFIDENT.

ON APRIL 13, 1926, THE TANK SPRANG A LEAK, DRENCHING THE OFFICES BELOW.

ACCORDING TO AUTHOR BETSY J.

GREEN, IT WAS DRAINED, REPAIRED AND PUT BACK IN SERVICE.

THE TOWER WAS RETIRED FROM SERVICE IN 1962, AND BECAME A MUSEUM IN 1970.

IT'S ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

MANY EARLY RESIDENTS OF WESTERN SPRINGS WERE QUAKERS.

DEEDS PROHIBITED THE SALE OF ALCOHOL.

WESTERN SPRINGS MAY HAVE A FEW MORE HAMS PER CAPITA THAN MOST WESTERN SUBURBS.

ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST RESPECTED COMMUNITY THEATRES IS LOCATED HERE.

THE THEATRE OF WESTERN SPRINGS WAS FOUNDED IN 1929 BY MARY CATTELL, A LOCAL MOTHER OF FOUR WHO HAD HIGH IDEALS ABOUT PRESENTING GREAT ART.

SHE WANTED HER THEATRE TO BE MORE THAN A SHOWCASE FOR LOCAL AMATEUR TALENT.

SO SHE STUDIED WITH GREAT RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN TEACHERS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF SERIOUS MODERN THEATRE, AND BROUGHT THEIR TECHNIQUES BACK HOME.

WEST OF WESTERN SPRINGS WE CROSS INTO DUPAGE COUNTY, NAMED FOR SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T LIVE IN DUPAGE COUNTY.

FRENCH TRAPPER DU PAZHE BUILT A TRADING POST AROUND 1800 ON LAND THAT TODAY IS IN WILL COUNTY WHERE THE EAST AND WEST BRANCHES OF THE DUPAGE RIVER COME TOGETHER.

DU PAGE COUNTY WAS FORMED FROM PART OF COOK COUNTY IN 1839.

BY 2000, MORE PEOPLE WERE COMMUTING INTO DUPAGE COUNTY FOR WORK THAN WERE COMMUTING OUT, ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO.

BUT THE COUNTY HASN'T FORGOTTEN ITS RURAL ROOTS.

>> HERE, PIGGY, PIGGY, PIGGY.

WHOA!!

PIGGY!!

(GEOFFERY BAER) EACH YEAR, MAYORS OF DUPAGE COUNTY COMMUNITIES COMPETE IN A HOG CALLING CONTEST AT THE COUNTY FAIR.

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING] ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST RECOGNIZED STARS WAS DISCOVERED IN HINSDALE AT THIS ANIMAL SHELTER... (ANNOUNCER) PLAYING WITH YARN IS STUPID BUT CAT OWNERS EXPECT IT.

PART OF THE IMAGE.

(GEOFFERY BAER) ANIMAL TALENT SCOUT BOB MARTWICK SPOTTED THE BIG ORANGE TABBY JUST 20 MINUTES BEFORE THE CAT WAS TO BE PUT TO SLEEP IN 1968.

MARTWICK SAID HIS EYE WAS DRAWN TO MORRIS "NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE "CAT'S IMPOSING APPEARANCE, "BUT ALSO BECAUSE, "DESPITE HIS "PRECARIOUS SITUATION, "HE STILL ACTED AS IF HE HAD A DEED TO THE PLACE," ACCORDING TO MORRIS' BIOGRAPHER MARY DANIELS.

MARTWICK PAID $5 FOR MORRIS.

HE WENT ON TO HAVE A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CAREER.

AFTER 19 YEARS, MORRIS DIED IN 1978 AND WAS BURIED IN MARTWICK'S BACK YARD IN LOMBARD.

MARTWICK DIED AT AGE 75 IN 2001.

MORRIS IS NOT THE ONLY ENTERTAINER WITH ORIGINS IN HINSDALE!

BILL VEECK, GREW UP IN HINSDALE.

HE HAD A FLAIR FOR SHOWMANSHIP WHEN HE WAS THE OWNER OF THE CLEVELAND INDIANS, ST. LOUIS BROWNS AND CHICAGO WHITE SOX.

HE INTRODUCED THE EXPLODING SCOREBOARD AND HE WAS THE FIRST TO PUT PLAYERS' NAMES ON THE BACKS OF THEIR JERSEYS.

>> A ONE, A TWO... (GEOFFERY BAER) VEECK'S LONGEST STANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE SPORT WAS HAVING HARRY CARAY SING "TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME" IN THE SEVENTH-INNING STRETCH.

VEECK WAS ELECTED TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME IN 1991, FIVE YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH.

WHAT FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT IS TO OAK PARK, R. HAROLD ZOOK IS TO HINSDALE.

TWENTY-NINE OF THE ARCHITECT'S CHARMING AND QUIRKY HOMES WERE STILL STANDING AS OF 2005.

THEY'RE SOMETIMES CALLED "HANSEL AND GRETEL" HOUSES.

HIS ENGLISH COUNTRY-STYLE COTTAGES FEATURE SHINGLES THAT IMITATE THE LOOK OF A THATCHED ROOF, BRICKS LAID IN A CHEVRON PATTERN, MASSIVE WOODEN BEAMS AND HIS TRADEMARK SPIDER WEB MOTIFS IN WINDOWS AND ELSEWHERE.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE ARCHITECTURE CRITIC BLAIR KAMIN WROTE, "IN A WORLD OF BOMBASTIC, "COOKIE-CUTTER MCMANSIONS, "THEIR MODEST SCALE "AND ORIGINAL DETAILS "ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN EVER.

"ENJOY THEM NOW.

THEY'RE GOING FAST."

SO FAR, SEVEN HAVE BEEN TORN DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW HOMES.

ZOOK'S OWN HOME WAS SAVED FROM THE WRECKING BALL BY THE HINSDALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

IT WAS MOVED TO A LOCAL PARK.

PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WESTERN SUBURBS GET THEIR LOCAL NEWS FROM A CHAIN OF NEWSPAPERS WITH A FUNNY OLD-FASHIONED NAME, "THE DOINGS."

THE NAME WAS POPULAR SLANG IN 1895 WHEN THE NEWSPAPER WAS FOUNDED BY THE 16-YEAR-OLD SON OF A HINSDALE PRINTER.

THE TEENAGE JOURNALIST MUST HAVE BEEN GOOD, BECAUSE HE PUT THE OTHER TWO LOCAL PAPERS OUT OF BUSINESS WITHIN TEN YEARS.

TODAY, THE DOINGS IS THE OLDEST BUSINESS IN HINSDALE.

THERE'S ONE MORE ENTERTAINER FROM HINSDALE WHO I STILL HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT.

SHE WAS A DANCER WHO BECAME THE TOAST OF PARIS AND A FAVORITE SUBJECT OF PAINTER HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC.

LOIE FULLER MADE HER STAGE DEBUT IN CHICAGO AT AGE FOUR AND TOURED THE COUNTRY IN STOCK COMPANIES, BURLESQUE SHOWS AND VAUDEVILLE.

BUT WHAT MADE HER FAMOUS WAS A DANCE SHE INVENTED IN WHICH SHE SWIRLED AN ENORMOUS SILK SKIRT LIT FROM WITHIN BY THE THEN-EXPERIMENTAL TECHNOLOGY OF ELECTRIC STAGE LIGHTING.

THE PARIS AVANT-GARDE WENT WILD FOR HER WHEN SHE DEBUTED WITH THE FOLIES BERGERE IN 1893.

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC DEVELOPED AN INTENSE OBSESSION FOR HER.

HIS 14 LITHOGRAPHS OF HER SKIRT DANCE ARE HIS MOST ABSTRACT WORKS.

WHEN SHE DIED IN PARIS IN 1928, LOIE FULLER HAD COME A LONG WAY FROM HER CHILDHOOD ON THE EDGE OF THE PRAIRIE AS THE DAUGHTER OF SOME OF HINSDALE'S FIRST SETTLERS.

IN FACT, WHEN SHE WAS BORN IN 1862, HINSDALE WAS STILL CALLED FULLERSBURG IN HONOR OF HER PIONEERING FAMILY.

LOIE'S HOUSE PROBABLY LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THIS ONE, WHICH HER UNCLE BEN FULLER BUILT AROUND 1840.

IT'S A RARE SURVIVING EXAMPLE OF EARLY BALLOON FRAME CONSTRUCTION AND IT'S BEING RESTORED AS A MUSEUM.

THE MOST IMPORTANT BUILDING IN OLD FULLERSBURG IS ALSO STILL STANDING AND STILL FUNCTIONING.

OLD GRAUE MILL BUILT IN 1852.

IT'S IN A FOREST PRESERVE IN OAK BROOK, WHICH LIKE HINSDALE, WAS ONCE PART OF FULLERSBURG.

IT'S THE ONLY WORKING WATERWHEEL GRISTMILL IN THE STATE.

GERMAN IMMIGRANT FREDERICK GRAUE BUILT IT, AND THREE GENERATIONS OF HIS FAMILY OPERATED IT FOR 60 YEARS.

IT WAS ONCE A STOP ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.

TODAY, COSTUMED VOLUNTEERS OPERATE THE MILL FOR SCHOOL GROUPS AND OTHER VISITORS, WHO LEAVE WITH A BAG OF FRESHLY GROUND CORNMEAL AND RECIPES!

GRAUE MILL IS ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES, AND IT'S ALSO AN U.S. ENGINEERING LANDMARK.

THESE STUDENTS ARE HARD AT WORK ON THEIR BACHELOR OF HAMBURGEROLOGY DEGREES.

NO.

THAT'S NOT A JOKE.

THIS IS HAMBURGER UNIVERSITY, AT MCDONALD'S CORPORATE.

HEADQUARTERS IN OAK BROOK.

HERE MANAGERS ARE TRAINED IN THE BASICS OF MCDONALD'S OPERATIONS.

FIVE THOUSAND STUDENTS ATTEND HAMBURGER UNIVERSITY EACH YEAR MANY FROM OVERSEAS.

THERE ARE MORE THAN 75,000 ALUMS.

THE OAK BROOK POLO CLUB HAS PLAYED HOST TO KINGS AND PRINCES, MAHARAJAHS AND MANY CELEBRITIES.

IT'S CONSIDERED ONE OF THE TOP CLUBS IN AMERICA.

POLO WAS JUST THE KIND OF SPORT THAT APPEALED TO PEOPLE WHO LIVED AROUND HERE WHEN THE CLUB WAS BUILT IN 1922.

THE AREA WAS DOTTED WITH ENORMOUS ESTATES LIKE THIS ONE, A 39-ROOM TUDOR REVIVAL STYLE MANSION ON MORE THAN 800 WOODED ACRES CALLED MAYSLAKE.

IT NOW BELONGS TO THE DUPAGE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT.

COAL BARON FRANCIS STUYVESANT PEABODY BEGAN BUILDING IT IN 1919.

PEABODY DIDN'T GET TO ENJOY HIS ESTATE FOR LONG.

AT AGE 63, SHORTLY AFTER HE MOVED HERE WITH HIS SECOND WIFE, HE DIED OF A HEART ATTACK WHILE FOX HUNTING ON THE PROPERTY.

HIS WIDOW BUILT THIS CHAPEL TO HIS MEMORY.

IT'S A REPLICA OF THE CHAPEL OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI IN ITALY.

ONE OF PEABODY'S WEALTHY NEIGHBORS WAS FRANK OSGOOD BUTLER.

HIS SON PAUL MADE BUTLER THE BIGGEST NAME IN OAK BROOK.

PAUL BUTLER EXPANDED HIS FAMILY'S LAND HOLDINGS HERE AND BASICALLY BUILT OAK BROOK INTO ONE OF THE NATION'S MOST AFFLUENT SUBURBS IN THE 20TH CENTURY ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO.

AS POWERFUL AS HE WAS, BUTLER COULDN'T CONVINCE THE LOCAL RESIDENTS TO LET HIM CHANGE THE ZONING LAWS TO PERMIT HIGHER DENSITY DEVELOPMENT AND MORE HIGH-RISES, AND THAT'S WHY MUCH OF OAK BROOK STILL LOOKS LIKE THIS TODAY.

PAUL BUTLER WAS STRUCK AND KILLED BY A CAR ON THE DAY BEFORE HIS 89TH BIRTHDAY IN 1981.

BY THE WAY, BUTLER'S SON, MICHAEL BUTLER, WAS THE THEATRICAL PRODUCER WHO BROUGHT THE MUSICAL "HAIR" TO BROADWAY.

♪♪ GUITAR LEGEND ERIC CLAPTON ONCE SERVED AS BEST MAN IN A WEDDING THAT TOOK PLACE AT A HOME HERE IN WESTMONT.

THE GROOM WAS THE HOME'S OWNER, THE GODFATHER OF THE BLUES, MUDDY WATERS.

♪ WELL, I DIDN'T KNOW ♪ ♪ WHERE SHE WAS... ♪ ♪ SHE'S OUT WITH ANOTHER GUY.

♪ (GEOFFERY BAER) MUDDY CALLED WESTMONT "GOD'S COUNTRY."

HE SPENT THE LAST TEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE...

HERE.

THEY WERE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL YEARS OF HIS CAREER.

THE ROLLING STONES NAMED THEMSELVES AFTER A MUDDY WATERS SONG.

WHEN THE STONES WOULD VISIT CHICAGO, THEY'D SEND A LIMO OUT HERE TO WESTMONT TO TRY TO ENTICE MUDDY TO COME INTO THE CITY FOR A JAM SESSION.

THAT'S ACCORDING TO THE WEBSITE MUDDYWATERS.COM.

[RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS] IN DOWNERS GROVE, YOU'LL FIND AS MANY AS 200 HOMES IN A WIDE VARIETY OF STYLES THAT ALL HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON.

THEY WERE BOUGHT BY MAIL ORDER FROM SEARS, ROEBUCK AND COMPANY BETWEEN 1908 AND 1940.

THAT'S THE HIGHEST KNOWN CONCENTRATION OF EXISTING SEARS HOMES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO THE DOWNERS GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

SEARS HOMES WERE SHIPPED IN 30-TO-40,000 PIECES ON A RAIL CAR.

A LONG RAILROAD SIDING IN DOWNERS GROVE MADE DELIVERIES HERE ESPECIALLY EASY.

EACH HOME KIT INCLUDED PAINT, HARDWARE, SHINGLES, AND EVEN MEDICINE CABINETS, BUILT-IN IRONING BOARDS, AND CHINA CLOSETS... NATIONWIDE, 100,000 PEOPLE PURCHASED MAIL-ORDER HOMES FROM SEARS.

THERE WERE NEARLY 450 DIFFERENT MODELS!

DOWNERS GROVE HAS GIVEN US SOME NOTABLE PEOPLE INCLUDING AN EGYPTOLOGIST WHO HELD A CATERED, FORMAL DINNER IN KING TUT'S TOMB, TO DISPEL THE MYTH THAT ANYONE ENTERING TOMB WAS CURSED.

JAMES HENRY BREASTED FOUNDED THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

OTHER DOWNERS GROVE NATIVES INCLUDE COMEDIAN EMO PHILLIPS, WHOSE REAL NAME IS PHILIP SOLTANEK.

FAMOUS BARITONE SHERRILL MILNES, WHO STARTED SINGING IN A LOCAL CHURCH UNDER HIS MOTHER'S DIRECTION.

AND ACTRESS DENISE RICHARDS WHO LIVED HERE UNTIL SHE WAS 15.

SHE'S BEST KNOWN FOR HER PERFORMANCES IN "WILD THINGS," "SCARY MOVIE 3," "LOVE ACTUALLY" AND "STARSHIP TROOPERS."

SHE PLAYED A BEAUTIFUL NUCLEAR SCIENTIST IN THE JAMES BOND FILM "THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH" WITH PIERCE BROSNAN.

HER MARRIAGE TO CHARLIE SHEEN PROVIDED PLENTY OF FODDER FOR THE SUPERMARKET TABLOIDS.

DOWNERS GROVE IS HOME TO A MOVIE PALACE WORTHY OF A LOCAL GIRL WHO GREW UP TO BE A HOLLYWOOD STAR...

THE TIVOLI THEATRE OPENED ON CHRISTMAS DAY IN 1928.

IT WAS ONLY THE SECOND THEATER IN THE COUNTRY BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR SOUND MOTION PICTURES.

THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE INTERIOR WAS RESTORED IN 1996.

THE THEATRE OFFERS LIVE ORGAN MUSIC BEFORE MOST SCREENINGS.

♪♪ [RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS] HERE'S A PLACE IN THE WESTERN SUBURBS WHERE IT'S EASY TO GET LOST... AND TO HAVE FUN DOING IT!

VISITORS TO THE ONE-ACRE GARDEN MAZE AT MORTON ARBORETUM WIND THEIR WAY THROUGH HALF A MILE OF TWISTS AND TURNS HUNTING FOR SEVEN DIFFERENT ROOMS, EACH HIGHLIGHTING A DIFFERENT KIND OF PLANT.

SPECTATORS CAN WATCH FROM A 12-FOOT OVERLOOK BUILT AROUND A 50-YEAR-OLD SYCAMORE TREE.

IT'S JUST ONE SMALL PART OF MORTON ARBORETUM... A 1,700-ACRE COLLECTION OF MORE THAN 3,700 KINDS OF TREES, SHRUBS AND OTHER PLANTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

BECAUSE THE PROPERTY IS SO VAST AND THE COLORS CHANGE CONTINUOUSLY, THE ARBORETUM HAS A COLOR SCOUT.

ED HEDBORN GIVES WEEKLY UPDATES ON WHERE TO FIND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COLORS AT THE ARBORETUM.

ED HAS WORKED AT THE ARBORETUM SINCE 1977.

HE KNOWS MORE ABOUT THE LIVING PLANT COLLECTIONS THERE THAN ANYONE ELSE ON THE STAFF.

JOY MORTON, THE PRESIDENT OF MORTON SALT AND FOUNDER OF THE ARBORETUM, DISCOVERED THIS PROPERTY BY ACCIDENT IN 1909.

MORTON'S CHAUFFER WAS DRIVING HIM THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE WHERE HE WAS LOOKING FOR LAND TO BUY WHEN THEY SPOTTED A GRASS FIRE.

THEY HOPPED OUT OF THE CAR TO STAMP IT OUT.

AFTERWARDS, JOY LOOKED UP ACROSS THE VALLEY AND SAW THE BEAUTIFUL VIEW WITH THE DUPAGE RIVER RUNNING THROUGH IT, AND HE DECIDED THIS WAS THE PLACE HE WANTED TO BUILD HIS ESTATE.

JOY MORTON BUILT A 175-ACRE ESTATE ON THIS LAND WHICH HE CALLED THORNHILL, AFTER ONE OF HIS FAVORITE TREES, THE HAWTHORNE.

IN 1922, WHEN HE WAS 65, JOY MORTON BEGAN BUILDING THE ARBORETUM ON HIS PROPERTY.

HE SAID, "I HOPE THE WORK MAY PROLONG MY LIFE."

HE SPECIFIED THAT THE ARBORETUM BE WILD IN CHARACTER "IN ORDER TO SHOW PLANTS "AND TREES AS THEY GROW IN NATURE."

BY THE TIME JOY DIED IN 1934, NEARLY 400,000 TREES HAD BEEN PLANTED.

THE ARBORETUM'S EMPHASIS ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INCREASED IN THE 1960S AND 70S.

THEY'VE HELPED TO DEVELOP DISEASE-RESISTANT ELMS, MAPLES AND OAKS.

THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE ARBORETUM IS THIS FOUR-ACRE CHILDREN'S GARDEN.

IT'S LOADED WITH INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES DESIGNED TO SPARK KIDS' CURIOSITY ABOUT THE NATURAL WORLD IN THEIR OWN BACK YARDS AND BEYOND.

THERE'S EVEN A WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE TREE HOUSE AND A "CANOPY WALK" THAT GIVES A VIEW OF TREE BRANCHES.

THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A PARADISE FOR JOY MORTON.

BUT FOR THE AREA'S FIRST SETTLER, A FARMER NAMED LUTHER HATCH, IT WAS JUST PLAIN LONELY OUT HERE.

HE WROTE TO HIS FAMILY BACK HOME IN NEW ENGLAND THAT HE LONGED FOR MAIL FROM HOME, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD TO WALK 23 MILES TO GET TO NEAREST POST OFFICE IN CHICAGO.

IN ANOTHER LETTER HE WROTE A DEPRESSING LITTLE POEM: "AND NOW MY FARM IN ILLINOIS "A PEACEFUL HOME "I HERE ENJOY "WITH BROTHER JAMES.

"I'M SINGLE STILL.

"TO MARRY?

AH, I NEVER WILL."

FORTUNATELY FOR LUTHER, A PLANK ROAD WAS BUILT THROUGH THE SETTLEMENT BRINGING MORE PEOPLE HERE, INCLUDING A BRIDE.

THE PLANK ROAD FOLLOWED AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL.

TODAY, IT'S OGDEN AVENUE.

MARK BEAUBIEN, A POPULAR HOTEL OWNER IN FRONTIER CHICAGO, OPERATED THIS INN ON THE PLANK ROAD STARTING IN THE 1840.

THE ENTERPRISING INNKEEPER ALSO BUILT A TOLLBOOTH.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR BEAUBIEN AND OTHER PLANK ROAD ENTREPRENEURS, WOODEN HIGHWAYS JUST DIDN'T HOLD UP WELL ON THE SOGGY PRAIRIE.

THE PLANKS WOULD WARP AND ROT AND SOMETIMES THEY WOULD JUST FLOAT AWAY IN HEAVY RAIN.

OTHER TIMES SETTLERS WOULD ACTUALLY STEAL THE PLANKS TO USE AS BUILDING MATERIALS.

ANYWAY, THE RAILROADS WERE SOON TO PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS.

THE RAILROAD TRANSFORMED LISLE INTO A "MILK STOP."

A CENTER WHERE FARMERS BROUGHT MILK TO THE TRAIN STATION EARLY EACH MORNING FOR SHIPMENT TO CHICAGO.

BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY IN LISLE IS WHERE YOU'LL FIND THE HOME FIELD OF THE CHICAGO BANDITS, WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL TEAM!

YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE THEIR STAR PITCHER JENNIE FINCH FROM THE COVER OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED... OR FROM THE SWIMSUIT ISSUE.

FINCH HAS A 71 MILE PER HOUR FASTBALL.

SHE WON AN NCAA-RECORD 60 STRAIGHT GAMES FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA AND WAS A KEY TO THE U.S. SOFTBALL TEAM'S OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL IN ATHENS.

[TRAIN TRACK SOUNDS] ABRAHAM LINCOLN ONCE SCRAMBLED OUT ONTO THE ROOF OF A NAPERVILLE HOTEL CALLED THE PRE-EMPTION HOUSE TO GIVE AN IMPROMPTU CAMPAIGN SPEECH, ACCORDING TO LOCAL LEGEND.

THE HOTEL WAS THE HUB OF A SETTLEMENT ESTABLISHED BY JOSEPH NAPER IN 1831.

INCREDIBLY, YOU CAN VISIT THE SETTLEMENT TODAY!

OR AT LEAST A REASONABLE FACSIMILE OF IT AND OF THE VILLAGE THAT GREW UP AROUND IT IN THE 19TH CENTURY.

IT'S A 13-ACRE, LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM.

SOME OF THE BUILDINGS HERE ARE RE-CREATIONS, BUT MOST OF THE STRUCTURES ARE THE REAL THING.

THEY'VE BEEN MOVED HERE AND RESTORED LITTLE BY LITTLE SINCE THE MUSEUM WAS FOUNDED IN 1969.

JOSEPH NAPER WAS THE CAPTAIN OF A GREAT LAKES SCHOONER CALLED THE TELEGRAPH OUT OF ASHTABULA, OHIO.

IN 1831, HE LOADED HIS FAMILY AND A GROUP OF SETTLERS ON BOARD AND DELIVERED THE SHIP TO A BUYER IN CHICAGO.

THEN THEY ALL TREKKED 30 MILES WEST UNTIL THEY FOUND A SPOT TO BUILD THEIR SETTLEMENT AT THE INTERSECTION OF TWO INDIAN TRAILS NEAR THE DUPAGE RIVER.

THIS WAS BEFORE THE TREATIES WERE SIGNED THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BANISH ALL NATIVE AMERICANS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

SO NAPER AND HIS FOLLOWERS WERE ESSENTIALLY SQUATTING ON INDIAN LAND.

IN 1832, CHIEF BLACKHAWK MOUNTED A CAMPAIGN TO TAKE BACK INDIAN LANDS.

IT ESCALATED INTO A WAR.

THE NAPER SETTLERS QUICKLY BUILT FORT PAYNE.

THIS IS A TWO-THIRDS SIZE REPLICA OF IT.

BUT OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN CHIEFS REFUSED TO JOIN THE WAR.

THE U.S. ARMY CHASED DOWN AND CAPTURED BLACK HAWK AND SLAUGHTERED MANY OF HIS PARTY AT WISCONSIN'S BAD AX RIVER.

NO BATTLES WERE EVER FOUGHT AT FORT PAYNE.

BY 1835, ALL NATIVE AMERICANS WERE FORCED TO MOVE WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI AFTER SELLING THEIR LAND TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR JUST A FEW CENTS PER ACRE.

IN ITS EARLIEST DAYS, NAPERVILLE LOOKED LIKE IT WAS GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START.

IT WAS CHOSEN COUNTY SEAT WHEN DUPAGE COUNTY WAS FORMED IN 1839.

BUT WHEN THE GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD ASKED FOR PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH NAPERVILLE IN 1851, THE TOWN MADE A BIG MISTAKE.

IT SAID "NO."

LOCAL BUSINESSMEN HAD PUT THEIR MONEY IN THE TWO PLANK ROADS THAT CROSSED AT NAPERVILLE, AND THEY DIDN'T WANT SOME NEWFANGLED FORM OF TRANSPORTATION RUINING THEIR BUSINESS.

SO INSTEAD, THE RAILROAD RAN THROUGH WHEATON TO THE NORTH.

SOON WHEATON WAS A BIGGER BUSIER TOWN AND WAS CHOSEN AS THE NEW COUNTY SEAT.

THIS SET OFF A TRULY BIZARRE INCIDENT.

BITTER NAPERVILLE REFUSED TO TURN OVER THE COUNTY RECORDS.

SO ONE DARK NIGHT IN 1868, A GROUP OF MEN FROM WHEATON STAGED A MIDNIGHT RAID ON THE NAPERVILLE COURTHOUSE.

AS THEY WERE LOADING THE RECORDS INTO A WAGON, A NAPERVILLE CITIZEN BEGAN RINGING A CHURCH BELL TO ROUSE THE COMMUNITY, BUT THE RAIDERS GOT AWAY WITH ALMOST ALL OF THE RECORDS.

THE NEXT DAY, A POSSE GATHERED AT PRE-EMPTION HOUSE DETERMINED TO STAGE A COUNTER-ATTACK AND GET THE RECORDS BACK.

CIVIC LEADERS PREVENTED THE VIGILANTE ACTION BY BUYING THE MEN DRINK AFTER DRINK UNTIL THEY WERE IN NO CONDITION TO DO ANYTHING.

NAPERVILLE HAD LEARNED ITS LESSON, AND WHEN THE CHICAGO, BURLINGTON AND QUINCY CAME THROUGH IN 1864, IT WAS WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS.

NAPERVILLE BECAME A COLLEGE TOWN IN 1870 WHEN WHAT IS NOW NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE MOVED HERE FROM PLAINFIELD.

LIMESTONE FROM NAPERVILLE'S OWN QUARRIES WAS USED TO BUILD OLD MAIN, THE FIRST BUILDING ON THE NEW CAMPUS.

ONE OF THE ALUMNI FROM NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE, PETER KROEHLER, FORMED WHAT BECAME THE LARGEST MAKER OF UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE IN THE WORLD.

TODAY THE OLD KROEHLER FACTORY IS FILLED WITH SHOPS, RESTAURANTS AND LOFT APARTMENTS.

IT'S PART OF A HISTORIC DISTRICT THAT ALSO HAS MANY FINE OLD HOMES.

THIS BLEND OF CITY AND SMALL TOWN LIFESTYLES WAS ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT LED MONEY MAGAZINE TO NAME NAPERVILLE THE THIRD BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2005 AFTER MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY AND BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASHINGTON.

THE MAGAZINE WAS ALSO IMPRESSED WITH THE SCENE ALONG THE TOWN'S FAMOUS THREE-MILE LONG RIVERWALK.

IT FOLLOWS THE DUPAGE RIVER THROUGH THE HEART OF TOWN.

CONSTRUCTION STARTED IN 1981 TO CELEBRATE NAPERVILLE'S 150TH BIRTHDAY.

ACCLAIMED ARCHITECT HELMUT JAHN'S "N" SHAPED OFFICE TOWER IS AN OUT-THERE SYMBOL OF NAPERVILLE PRIDE.

STILL TO COME... AN EERIE MASTERPIECE FROM WARRENVILLE, A CEMETERY COMES ALIVE IN WEST CHICAGO, GLEN ELLYN'S HEALTH SPA AND HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE, LOMBARD LILACS, CARL SANDBURG IN ELMHURST AND MAYWOOD-- PLUS-- MELROSE PARK, FOREST PARK, RIVER FOREST, OAK PARK, AND MORE.

STAY TUNED!

NOW LET'S FOLLOW THE DUPAGE RIVER NORTH TO A POINT WHERE WE'LL PICK UP THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD FOR OUR RETURN TO THE CITY.

THE 84-MILE-LONG DU PAGE RIVER IS THE LARGEST TRIBUTARY OF THE DES PLAINES RIVER.

IT HAS TWO BRANCHES.

THE EAST BRANCH FLOWS THROUGH MORTON ARBORETUM.

THE WEST THROUGH FOREST PRESERVES.

♪♪ ALONG THE RIVER, WE PASS THROUGH WARRENVILLE.

IT WAS A MILL TOWN THAT BECAME A POPULAR RURAL RETREAT WHEN THE CHICAGO, AURORA AND ELGIN ELECTRIC RAILROAD CAME THROUGH IN 1902.

IN THIS PEACEFUL SETTING, ARTIST IVAN ALBRIGHT WORKED FOR TEN YEARS ON A DARK AND DISTURBING PAINTING OF A DOOR.

A MASTERPIECE CALLED, "THAT WHICH I SHOULD HAVE DONE I DID NOT DO."

ALBRIGHT'S STUDIO WAS IN THIS OLD GREEK REVIVAL HOUSE THAT'S NOW THE LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

HE MOVED HERE IN 1924 WITH HIS FATHER, THE SUCCESSFUL ARTIST, ADAM EMORY ALBRIGHT.

THEIR GALLERY AND STUDIO BECAME A MAGNET FOR THE ART WORLD DURING THE 1930S.

THE ELDER ALBRIGHT PAINTED BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES.

BUT HIS SON BECAME INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS FOR GROTESQUE PORTRAITS AND DECAYING STILL-LIFES.

CONTINUING NORTH, WE PASS FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY... WE WON'T STOP THERE NOW BECAUSE WE'LL VISIT IT IN AN UPCOMING PROGRAM ABOUT THE FOX RIVER.

♪♪ >> AND IN 1890, HE ESTABLISHED A BLACKSMITH'S SHOP, WHO WAS IN BUSINESS FOR 41 YEARS.

(GEOFFERY BAER) EACH OCTOBER, HISTORIC OAKWOODS CEMETERY IN WEST CHICAGO COMES ALIVE.

VISITORS FOLLOW CANDLE-LIT PATHS TO GRAVES WHERE COSTUMED INTERPRETERS TELL TALES OF THOSE BURIED HERE.

>> THE SANDERS FAMILY CAME BACK TO TURNER IN 1869, AND CALVIN BEGAN WORK AS A SALESMAN FOR THE FRANKLIN MCBAY COMPANY.

(GEOFFERY BAER) THE STRANGERS AND INDIGENT SECTION OF OAKWOODS CEMETERY GIVES A BIG CLUE TO THE HISTORY OF WEST CHICAGO.

A LARGE NUMBER OF THE POOR AND HOMELESS WHO ARE BURIED HERE WERE HOBOS AND TRAMPS.

THAT'S BECAUSE WEST CHICAGO HAS BEEN A RAILROAD HUB SINCE 1850, WHEN IT BECAME THE SITE OF THE FIRST RAIL JUNCTION IN ILLINOIS.

WEST CHICAGO WAS IN FACT THE FIRST ILLINOIS COMMUNITY CREATED BECAUSE OF THE RAILROAD.

TO SHOW THEIR APPRECIATION WHEN THE VILLAGE INCORPORATED THE TOWN LEADERS, DECREED THAT THE SEAL SHOULD HAVE A LOCOMOTIVE ON IT.

IT STILL DOES TODAY.

THE TOWN WAS NAMED JUNCTION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD, JOHN B. TURNER.

HE NAMED THE STREETS FOR TOWNS AND LANDMARKS ALONG THE RAILROAD LINE.

TURNER NEVER LIVED HERE, BUT HE HAD SO MUCH INFLUENCE ON THE TOWN THAT IT BECAME KNOWN AS TURNER JUNCTION.

LIKE THE IRISH, ENGLISH, AND GERMANS BEFORE THEM, MEXICANS BEGAN COMING TO WEST CHICAGO IN THE EARLY 1920S FOR RAILROAD AND FACTORY JOBS.

WORKERS WERE HOUSED IN BOXCARS ALONG THE TRACKS.

THE RAILROAD WASN'T THE ONLY NEW FORM OF TRANSPORTATION THE TOWN EMBRACED.

AN AIRPORT WAS BUILT HERE IN 1928.

TODAY IT'S DUPAGE AIRPORT, THE BUSIEST GENERAL AVIATION AIRPORT IN ILLINOIS.

FOR OUR RETURN TRIP TO CHICAGO, WE'LL RIDE THE OLDEST RAIL LINE IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

TODAY, IT'S METRA'S UNION PACIFIC WEST LINE.

PEOPLE REMEMBER IT AS THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN.

BUT IT STARTED OUT AS THE GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION.

WE'LL LEARN ITS HISTORY LATER ON.

WINFIELD IS NAMED FOR GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT.

HE LED THE ATTACK ON CHIEF BLACKHAWK WHO WAS TRYING TO RECLAIM INDIAN LANDS IN 1832.

WINFIELD WAS SUFFICIENTLY FAR OUT IN THE COUNTRY THAT IT WAS CHOSEN AS THE HOME FOR A MAJOR TUBERCULOSIS SANITARIUM BUILT IN 1909, ON THE GROUNDS OF AN EARLIER REST HOME.

TODAY, IT'S CENTRAL DUPAGE HOSPITAL.

WINFIELD HAS MAINTAINED ITS SMALL-TOWN CHARACTER.

IT ONLY GOT ITS FIRST TRAFFIC LIGHT IN 1990!

[RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS] OF ALL THE PEOPLE CONNECTED TO CHICAGO'S WESTERN SUBURBS, PROBABLY NO ONE IS MORE RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD THAN BILLY GRAHAM.

GRAHAM GRADUATED FROM WHEATON COLLEGE IN 1943.

BILLY GRAHAM WAS BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA.

HE WAS ATTENDING A BIBLE SCHOOL IN FLORIDA WHEN THE WIFE OF WHEATON COLLEGE'S PRESIDENT HEARD HIM PREACHING THERE AND ENCOURAGED HIM TO TRANSFER TO WHEATON.

HE DID.

AND THAT'S WERE GRAHAM MET HIS OWN WIFE, A FELLOW WHEATON COLLEGE STUDENT NAMED RUTH BELL.

SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF MISSIONARIES AND GREW UP IN CHINA.

ON THEIR FIRST DATE, BILLY AND RUTH WENT TO A PERFORMANCE OF HANDEL'S "MESSIAH" AT THE WHEATON COLLEGE CHAPEL.

WHILE HE WAS STILL A STUDENT, BILLY BECAME THE REGULAR PASTOR AT THE WHEATON UNITED GOSPEL TABERNACLE CHURCH.

HIS PREACHING AT THE LOS ANGELES CRUSADE BEFORE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN 1949, LAUNCHED HIM ON A CAREER OF HUGE TENT-MEETINGS, RADIO AND TELEVISION.

HE EARNED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, AMERICA'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR IN 1983.

THE BILLY GRAHAM CENTER OPENED AT WHEATON COLLEGE IN 1980.

ITS MISSION IS TO "STIMULATE GLOBAL EVANGELISM."

AND TO "MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS."

IT INCLUDES A MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF EVANGELISM IN AMERICA AND THE LIFE OF BILLY GRAHAM.

BILLY GRAHAM WAS ONLY ONE OF MANY NOTABLE GRADUATES OF WHEATON COLLEGE.

♪♪ "THE KING AND I" IS BASED ON A BOOK BY WHEATON ALUM MARGARET MORTENSON LANDON.

HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT TAUGHT AND COACHED AT YORKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL AFTER GRADUATION FROM WHEATON COLLEGE.

HE WAS NAMED ILLINOIS COACH OF THE YEAR IN 1976.

HE GOT HOOKED ON POLITICS AFTER TRAVELING TO WASHINGTON D.C.

IN 1978 TO LOBBY FOR A BILL SUPPORTING HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS.

HE WAS ELECTED TO THE ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN 1980 AND TO THE U.S. CONGRESS 1986.

HORROR MOVIE MEISTER WES CRAVEN, DIRECTOR OF "NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET" AND THE "SCREAM" MOVIES WAS ONCE THE EDITOR OF WHEATON COLLEGE'S LITERARY MAGAZINE.

>> WHAT NUMBER IS THIS?

(GEOFFERY BAER) WHEATON COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED AS THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE IN 1853.

HISTORIC BLANCHARD HALL IS NAMED FOR THE COLLEGE'S FIRST PRESIDENT, JONATHAN BLANCHARD.

HE USED THE SCHOOL AS A PLATFORM FOR ABOLITIONISM... AND FOR A NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN 1884 ACCORDING THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO .

WHEATON COLLEGE ENROLLED AFRICAN AMERICAN AND FEMALE STUDENTS AS EARLY AS THE 1850S.

THE COLLEGE BECAME INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN THROUGH ITS MISSIONARY WORK.

THE ONCE-BOOMING INDUSTRIAL TOWN OF GARY, INDIANA IS NAMED FOR A FORMER WHEATON MAYOR AND JUDGE, ELBERT H. GARY.

HE FOUNDED U.S. STEEL AND BUILT THE WORLD'S LARGEST STEEL MILL IN THE TOWN THAT NOW BEARS HIS NAME.

GARY WAS THE SON OF ONE OF WHEATON'S FOUNDERS.

ERASTUS GARY CAME HERE FROM CONNECTICUT IN 1833.

BROTHERS WARREN AND JESSE WHEATON SOON FOLLOWED.

THEY CONVINCED THE RAILROAD TO COME TO TOWN BY GIVING IT A RIGHT OF WAY ACROSS THEIR PROPERTY.

THE FIRST STATION FROM 1856 BY THE PROMINENT CHICAGO ARCHITECTS COBB AND FROST, IS NOW PART OF A SMALL LOCAL ZOO.

CHARLES SUMNER FROST ALSO DESIGNED THE ROMANESQUE STYLE ADAMS MEMORIAL LIBRARY.

IT NOW HOUSES THE DUPAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM AND IS ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

WHEATON IS THE DUPAGE COUNTY SEAT, AND THIS ROMANESQUE STYLE COURTHOUSE, BUILT IN 1896, STANDS ON THE SITE WHERE THE COUNTY RECORDS WERE DEPOSITED AFTER THAT MIDNIGHT RAID ON NAPERVILLE THAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT EARLIER.

THIS BUILDING IS ALSO ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

A NEW COURTHOUSE REPLACED IT IN THE 1970S AND IT'S BEEN CONVERTED TO CONDOS.

IN WHEATON, THE NORTH AND SOUTH BRANCHES OF THE ILLINOIS PRAIRIE PATH COME TOGETHER.

THIS PATHWAY USED TO BE THE CHICAGO, AURORA AND ELGIN ELECTRIC RAILROAD.

WHEATON WAS THE PLACE WERE THE NORTH AND SOUTH LINES CONVERGED AND HEADED INTO CHICAGO, EVENTUALLY ENDING UP ON THE DOWNTOWN ELEVATED LOOP.

ASTRONOMER EDWIN HUBBLE GRADUATED FROM WHEATON HIGH SCHOOL IN 1906.

IN THE 1920S, HE REVOLUTIONIZED OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE COSMOS BY SHOWING THAT THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING.

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY CALLED HIM POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ASTRONOMER SINCE GALILEO.

THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IS NAMED FOR HIM.

CHARLES BARNES, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF BARNES AND NOBLE STARTED OUT SELLING BOOKS FROM A WHEELBARROW TO COMMUTERS AT THE WHEATON TRAIN STATION.

SINCE HE WAS IN A COLLEGE TOWN, HE ALSO MADE MONEY RE-SELLING TEXTBOOKS.

IN 1917, HE OPENED A STORE IN NEW YORK CITY WITH PARTNER CLIFFORD NOBLE.

BARNES AND NOBLE OPENED ITS FIRST ILLINOIS STORE IN WHEATON, IN 1992.

FOOTBALL LEGEND RED GRANGE GREW UP IN WHEATON, WHERE HIS FATHER WAS CHIEF OF POLICE.

HE BECAME ONE OF THE GREATEST RUNNING BACKS IN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS HISTORY, AND WENT ON TO A PRO CAREER WITH THE CHICAGO BEARS.

HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FOOTBALL PLAYERS TO ENDORSE PRODUCTS.

THERE WAS A RED GRANGE MILK CHOCOLATE NUT BAR.

THIS HUGE ESTATE IN WHEATON WAS ONCE THE HOME OF THE LARGER-THAN LIFE CHICAGO TRIBUNE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ROBERT MCCORMICK, KNOWN TO ALL AS "THE COLONEL."

HE INHERITED THE ESTATE FROM HIS FAMILY AND RE-NAMED IT "CANTIGNY" AFTER A VILLAGE IN FRANCE WHERE HE HAD LED TROOPS IN WORLD WAR I.

TODAY, CANTIGNY INCLUDES THE ROBERT R. MCCORMICK MUSEUM IN THE HUGE GEORGIAN-STYLE MANSION WHERE THE COLONEL ONCE LIVED.

THE GROUNDS CONTAIN A 500-ACRE PARK WITH FORMAL GARDENS, TWO GOLF COURSES AND THE FIRST DIVISION MUSEUM DEDICATED TO THE HISTORY OF THE BIG RED ONE, THE FAMED 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION OF THE U.S. ARMY.

JOHN BELUSHI GREW UP IN WHEATON.

HIS DRAMA TEACHER AT WHEATON CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL RECOGNIZED HIS TALENT.

JOHN WAS VOTED HOMECOMING KING AND MOST TALENTED HIS SENIOR YEAR.

HE WAS CO-CAPTAIN OF FOOTBALL TEAM AND AN ALL-CONFERENCE LINEBACKER.

AFTER GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE OF DUPAGE, HE STARTED IN CHICAGO'S LEGENDARY SECOND CITY IMPROV TROUPE.

HE GOT A JOB WITH NATIONAL LAMPOON IN 1972.

HE BECAME A COMEDY LEGEND AS PART OF THE CAST OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE FROM 1975 TO 1979.

AND WENT ON TO STAR IN COMEDY CLASSICS INCLUDING "ANIMAL HOUSE" AND "THE BLUES BROTHERS."

BELUSHI DIED OF A DRUG OVERDOSE IN 1982.

JOHN'S BROTHER, JIM BELUSHI, ALSO GRADUATED FROM WHEATON CENTRAL AND ATTENDED THE COLLEGE OF DUPAGE.

LIKE HIS BROTHER, HE PERFORMED AT SECOND CITY, ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE AND OTHER TELEVISION SHOWS AND IN FILMS.

IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT ONLY ONE WHEATON NATIVE HAS HAD THE HONOR OF BEING PLAYED BY ROBERT REDFORD IN A FEATURE FILM.

BOB WOODWARD, HALF OF THE WASHINGTON POST REPORTING TEAM THAT BROKE THE WATERGATE SCANDAL IN 1972, GRADUATED FROM WHEATON CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN L961.

HE WAS SOPHOMORE CLASS PRESIDENT THERE.

♪♪ I ALWAYS ASSUMED CAROL STREAM WAS NAMED FOR A BODY OF WATER.

BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY NAMED FOR THE TEENAGE DAUGHTER OF THE TOWN'S DEVELOPER, JAY STREAM.

SHE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDENT IN 1957 AND FELL INTO A COMA.

HER FATHER HOPED THAT IF HE NAMED THE TOWN IN HER HONOR SHE MIGHT WAKE UP.

AND IN FACT, SHE DID!

HE BEGAN BUILDING HOMES HERE IN THE 1950S.

PRIOR TO THAT TIME, THIS WAS FARMLAND.

IN FACT, ONE LOCAL FARM, WAS SO TYPICAL OF MIDWESTERN FARM LIFE THAT IT BECAME THE SETTING FOR THE TELEVISION SHOW "OUT ON THE FARM" THAT RAN ON NBC.

BY THE WAY, AS OF 2005, CAROL STREAM-- THE PERSON-- WAS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN ARIZONA.

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING BILLY CORGAN OF SMASHING PUMPKINS FAME IS A 1985 GRADUATE OF GLENBARD NORTH HIGH SCHOOL IN CAROL STREAM.

[RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS] ♪♪ MANY YOUNG MUSICIANS DREAM OF WINNING A GRAMMY AWARD SOMEDAY.

BUT THESE YOUNGSTERS ARE PART OF A CHORUS THAT HAS ALREADY WON FOUR!

THE GLEN ELLYN CHILDREN'S CHORUS, FOUNDED IN 1964.

THE CHORUS OPERATES ON THE BELIEF THAT ALL CHILDREN ARE INHERENTLY MUSICAL.

THEY ACCEPT ANY CHILD AGES FIVE TO 18 WHO WANTS TO SING, REGARDLESS OF MUSICAL OR SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND.

EACH YEAR ABOUT 1,300 KIDS FROM MORE THAN 50 SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES PARTICIPATE.

THE CHORUS HAS PERFORMED FREQUENTLY WITH THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND THEY HAVE APPEARED AT CARNEGIE HALL AND THE KENNEDY CENTER .

THEY'VE TOURED THROUGHOUT THE U.S. AND CANADA, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, AND MOST RECENTLY, CHINA.

GLEN ELLYN WAS ONCE A RESORT TOWN.

NOTED FOR ITS MINERAL SPRINGS AND ITS BROTHELS.

THE RESORT STARTED IN 1889 WHEN A BUSINESSMAN AND FORMER AURORA MAYOR NAMED THOMAS E. HILL, CREATED THIS LAKE BY DAMMING UP A STREAM.

HE CALLED IT LAKE GLEN ELLYN, USING THE WELSH SPELLING OF HIS WIFE NAME ELLEN, E-L-L-Y-N.

THEY BUILT A PAVILION ON THE LAKE THAT OFFERED DANCING BY MOONLIGHT, AND LIVED ON A 160-ACRE ESTATE CALLED WILDAIRS.

THE TOWN ALSO HAD FIVE MINERAL SPRINGS.

BUT THINGS REALLY GOT INTERESTING WHEN MADAM EMILY RIECK PURPORTEDLY MOVED HER BROTHEL TO GLEN ELLYN IN 1890.

CHICAGO'S MAYOR HAD SHUT DOWN HER MICHIGAN AVENUE HOTEL AS PART OF A CRACKDOWN ON HOUSES OF PROSTITUTION THERE.

MADAM REICK'S PROMINENT CHICAGO CLIENTELE USED THE CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN TO VISIT HER ESTABLISHMENT.

SHE HAD SO MUCH BUSINESS, SHE BUILT A SECOND HOUSE.

LONG BEFORE THE RAILROADS AND RESORTS CAME HERE, THIS TAVERN WAS BUILT AT THE CROSSROADS OF TWO INDIAN TRAILS.

THE PROPRIETOR WAS A WAR OF 1812 VETERAN FROM MASSACHUSETTS NAMED MOSES STACY.

SO PEOPLE CALLED THE SETTLEMENT STACY'S CORNERS OR JUST "THE CORNERS."

TRAVELERS PAID 50 CENTS FOR DINNER, A NIGHT'S STAY, BREAKFAST AND HAY FOR THEIR HORSES.

WHILE THE MEN DRANK IN THE TAPROOM, THE LADIES PARLOR WITH ITS CHINA TEA SERVICE OFFERED A REFINED PLACE FOR FRONTIER WOMEN TO GATHER.

THE TAVERN IS NOW A MUSEUM AND IT'S ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

MCCHESNEY AND MILLER GROCERY STORE IN GLEN ELLYN, IS THE OLDEST OPERATING BUSINESS IN DUPAGE COUNTY.

IT'S BEEN IN CONTINUOUS OPERATION SINCE 1862.

GLEN ELLYN IS HOME TO ONE OF AMERICA'S LARGEST COMMUNITY COLLEGES, THE COLLEGE OF DUPAGE.

♪♪ THEIR RADIO STATION, WDCB, HAS A CULT FOLLOWING WITH JAZZ FANS ALL OVER THE CHICAGO AREA.

INJURED BIRDS AND WILD ANIMALS IN DUPAGE COUNTY HAVE AN EMERGENCY ROOM AT WILLOWBROOK WILDLIFE CENTER.

THEY'RE NURSED BACK TO HEALTH HERE AND RE-RELEASED INTO THE WILD.

ANIMALS THAT CAN'T BE FULLY REHABILITATED ARE GIVEN A PERMANENT HOME IN THEIR WILDLIFE EXHIBIT.

WILLOWBROOK ONLY ACCEPTS ANIMALS THAT ARE NATIVE TO THIS AREA.

INVASIVE SPECIES LIKE PIGEONS AND STARLINGS ARE REFERRED TO OTHER AGENCIES.

FOR MANY YEARS, EVERY TIME A U.S. PRESIDENT GAVE A SPEECH, THE WORK OF AN ARTIST RAISED IN GLEN ELLYN WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM.

SCULPTOR RICHARD RUSH BUILT THE DIES FROM WHICH THE PRESIDENTIAL SEALS WERE CAST.

EACH TIME MORE SEALS WERE NEEDED, THE WHITE HOUSE SENT THE DIES TO RUSH'S STUDIO IN CHICAGO FOR FABRICATION.

SEAN HAYES, WHO PLAYS JACK MCFARLAND ON THE NBC SITCOM "WILL & GRACE" IS A GRADUATE OF GLENBARD WEST HIGH SCHOOL IN GLEN ELLYN.

OTHER GLENBARD WEST ALUMS INCLUDE LAURIE ANDERSON WHO RAISED EYEBROWS AS A PERFORMANCE ART PIONEER.

AND 60S RADICAL, BILL AYERS.

HE MADE THE FBI'S TEN-MOST-WANTED LIST, AS A MEMBER OF THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND.

HE'S NOW A COLLEGE PROFESSOR.

[RAILROAD CROSSING BELLS] IN MAY OF 1930, ADELINE FLEEGE BECAME THE FIRST LILAC QUEEN OF LOMBARD, ILLINOIS.

HER CROWN WAS MADE OUT OF SILVER SPOONS DONATED BY THE WOMEN OF THE TOWN.

EVERY YEAR SINCE THEN, LOMBARD HAS CROWNED A NEW QUEEN AT ITS ANNUAL LILAC FESTIVAL.

LOMBARD'S NEARLY CENTURY-OLD OBSESSION WITH LILACS BEGAN WITH TWO BUSHES THAT COLONEL WILLIAM R. PLUM BROUGHT BACK FROM FRANCE IN 1910 AND PLANTED ON HIS PROPERTY.

BY THE TIME HE DIED IN 1927 AND DONATED HIS HOME TO THE CITY, HE AND HIS WIFE HAD MORE THAN 200 VARIETIES OF LILACS.

THE PROPERTY IS NOW LILACIA PARK.

LILACS WEREN'T COLONEL PLUM'S ONLY OBSESSION.

HIS FIRST LOVE WAS THE TELEGRAPH.

AS A BOY IN OHIO, HE GOT A JOB AS A TELEGRAPH OPERATOR IN A DRUG STORE.

HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON IN TOWN TO LEARN ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S ELECTION.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR, HE JOINED THE ARMY AND HELPED TO PIONEER THE USE OF TELEGRAPH TECHNOLOGY IN WARFARE.

HE LATER WROTE A BOOK ABOUT MILITARY TELEGRAPH, WHICH CONTAINED THIS POETIC DESCRIPTION: "ITS SLENDER "SWAYING IRON THREAD... "WINDING THROUGH "THE SILENT FOREST, "CREEPING OVER "THE RUGGED MOUNTAIN, "LEAPING ACROSS "THE OOZING SWAMP... "BORE ALIKE THE STERN "MILITARY ORDER, "THE FIRST WORD OF VICTORY... "OR THE SAD MESSAGE OF DEATH OR DEFEAT."

THE FUTURE TOWN OF LOMBARD WAS STILL A PRETTY PRIMITIVE PLACE WHEN COL.

PLUM MOVED HERE IN 1867.

IN FACT, ONE OF THE TOWN'S FIRST SETTLERS SHELDON PECK WAS STILL LIVING IN THIS HOUSE.

PECK WAS A PORTRAIT PAINTER WHO MOVED OUT HERE IN 1837 AFTER TRADING SOME LAND HE OWNED IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO FOR THIS PROPERTY.

IN THE DAYS BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHY, SETTLERS WERE EAGER TO HAVE THEIR PORTRAITS PAINTED.

AND PECK DID A BRISK BUSINESS RIDING AROUND THE REGION ON HORSEBACK.

IN RECENT YEARS, PECK'S RUSTIC PORTRAITS HAVE FETCHED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AT AUCTION.

THEY'RE IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO AND OTHER IMPORTANT MUSEUMS.

PECK'S HOME IS THE OLDEST IN LOMBARD.

IT WAS BUILT IN 1837.

AMAZINGLY, PECK'S DESCENDANTS LIVED IN IT UNTIL 1996.

IT'S BEEN RESTORED BY THE LOMBARD HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THE YEAR PECK DIED, 1868, CHICAGO BANKER JOSIAH LOMBARD BOUGHT 227 ACRES AND BEGAN DEVELOPING HIS COMMUTER SUBURB HERE.

MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT LOTS AND BUILT VICTORIAN HOMES LIKE THIS ONE, THAT'S NOW THE LOMBARD HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

THE CREATOR OF THE ORPHAN ANNIE CARTOON STRIP LIVED IN ANOTHER BIG LOMBARD VICTORIAN HOME.

HAROLD GRAY, BOUGHT IT FOR HIS PARENTS AND LIVED THERE HIMSELF FROM 1927 TO 1929.

WOMEN OF LOMBARD WERE AMONG THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY TO VOTE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS WHEN THEY DISCOVERED THAT LOMBARD'S CHARTER DID NOT SPECIFY THE GENDER OF VOTERS.

BUT THEIR SUFFRAGE WAS LIMITED TO EDUCATIONAL ISSUES ACCORDING TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY FACT BOOK.

UNABOMBER, TED KACZYNSKI'S PARENTS AND BROTHER WERE LOMBARD RESIDENTS.

KACZYNSKI'S BROTHER STARTED TO SUSPECT HE KNEW THE UNABOMBER'S IDENTITY WHEN HE READ HIS MANIFESTO IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.

HE WENT TO THE FBI.

INVESTIGATORS APPARENTLY DISCOVERED MORE EVIDENCE IN A SHED BEHIND THE FAMILY'S LOMBARD HOUSE THAT LED TO THE UNABOMBER'S ARREST.

♪♪ IN ADDISON, WE CROSS SALT CREEK.

THE STREAM WINDS ITS WAY THROUGH MORE THAN A DOZEN SUBURBS.

BUT I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THOSE COMMUNITIES KNOW WHY IT'S CALLED SALT CREEK.

APPARENTLY, IT GOT ITS NAME FROM AN INCIDENT IN 1838 WHEN A TEAMSTER, WITH A WAGON LOAD OF SALT, TRIED TO FORD THE CREEK HERE AT LAKE STREET IN WHAT IS TODAY ADDISON.

THE CREEK WAS AT FLOOD STAGE, AND BY THE TIME HE GOT TO THE OTHER SIDE, HIS ENTIRE CARGO HAD DISSOLVED.

TODAY, WHERE SALT CREEK PASSES UNDER LAKE STREET IN ADDISON, YOU'LL FIND LOUIS RESERVOIR, NAMED FOR A LEGENDARY RESTAURANT THAT ONCE STOOD HERE.

LOUIS RESTAURANT WAS POPULAR WITH MOBSTERS, FAMOUS POLITICIANS AND ENTERTAINERS.

LOUIS BOSWORTH AND HIS WIFE, MARIE, OPENED IT IN 1918.

LOUIS CAME TO AMERICA FROM HUNGARY AS A STOWAWAY ON A SHIP.

SOMETIMES THEY SERVED WILD GAME THAT THEY CAUGHT THEMSELVES.

THERE WAS A LIVE BEAR OUT BACK THAT LOUIS BROUGHT BACK FROM A CANADIAN HUNTING TRIP WHEN IT WAS JUST A CUB.

THE RESTAURANT WAS PARTICULARLY BUSY DURING THE ANNUAL ORPHAN FESTIVAL, WHEN CROWDS CAME TO VISIT THE CHILDREN AT THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN ORPHANAGE.

JUST LIKE THAT OLD SALT WAGON DRIVER, LOUIS' RESTAURANT WAS ALSO A VICTIM OF FLOODS AT THIS INTERSECTION.

SEVERAL TIMES, IN FACT.

THE RESTAURANT SMELLED OF MILDEW AND HAD BRASS PLAQUES ON THE WALLS SHOWING THE HEIGHT OF PAST FLOODS.

LOUIS' RESTAURANT CLOSED IN 1989.

AND A RESERVOIR WAS BUILT TO FINALLY GET THE FLOODING PROBLEM UNDER CONTROL.

♪♪ VILLA PARK IS WHERE OVALTINE WAS MADE FROM 1917 TO 1958.

OVALTINE WAS INVENTED IN 1865 BY A CHEMIST IN SWITZERLAND AS A FORTIFIED DRINK FOR UNDERNOURISHED CHILDREN .

AS THE SPONSOR OF LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE ON THE RADIO, THE COMPANY CAME UP WITH A BRILLIANT PROMOTION.

EACH WEEK, A MYSTERY WAS BROADCAST THAT COULD ONLY BE SOLVED BY LISTENERS WITH A DECODER RING.

AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET A RING WAS TO BUY OVALTINE.

THE CHICAGO, AURORA & ELGIN RAIL LINE SPARKED A POPULATION BOOM HERE IN THE 1920S.

DEVELOPERS ENTICED CITY FOLK TO TRY "COUNTRY LIVING" BY OFFERING THEM 20 APPLE TREES OR 200 BABY CHICKS IF THEY PURCHASED PROPERTY HERE.

THE FORMER RAILROAD STATIONS NOW SERVE AS THE VILLA PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

♪♪ ELMHURST WAS THE HOME OF POET CARL SANDBURG.

HE MOVED HERE FROM MAYWOOD IN 1919.

SANDBURG AND HIS FAMILY CALLED THEIR HOME ON YORK STREET, "HAPPINESS HOUSE."

THERE HE WROTE THE FIRST TWO PARTS OF HIS LINCOLN BIOGRAPHY.

ALSO THE ROOTABAGA STORIES THAT HE INVENTED FOR HIS THREE DAUGHTERS.

BY THE LATE 1920S, ELMHURST HAD GOTTEN TOO BIG AND BUSY FOR SANDBURG AND HE MOVED TO A QUIETER TOWN IN MICHIGAN.

BUT THE THING THAT CHARMED HIM MOST ABOUT ELMHURST REMAINED: THE TREES.

SANDBURG WROTE, "THE EARLY SETTLERS OF ELMHURST "WERE TREE LOVERS.

"IN HUNDREDS "OF DAY OR NIGHT WALKS "I TOOK IN ELMHURST, "I WAS GRATEFUL "TO THOSE OLD-TIMERS "FOR THE NOBLE ELMS, MAPLES, "OAKS AND PINES THEY BEQUEATHED TO US."

IN FACT, ELMHURST MEANS "ELM FOREST" IN GERMAN.

MOST OF THE TREES WERE PLANTED BY WEALTHY OWNERS OF HUGE ESTATES LIKE THIS ONE, WHICH IS NOW WILDER PARK.

SETH WADHAMS STARTED BUILDING AND LANDSCAPING IT IN 1868.

THE CONSERVATORY IS AN EXTENSION OF A GREENHOUSE THAT WADHAMS BUILT FOR HIS WIFE TO HELP HER RECOVER FROM THE GRIEF OF LOSING A CHILD.

THE ESTATE WENT THOUGH SEVERAL OWNERS BEFORE BEING PURCHASED BY THE PARK DISTRICT.

THE GREEK REVIVAL STYLE MANSION SERVED FOR MANY YEARS AS THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

TODAY, THERE'S A HOUSE FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ERA IN WILDER PARK; MCCORMICK HOUSE, BY THE FATHER OF MODERNISM, MIES VAN DER ROHE.

IT WAS MOVED HERE IN 1994 AND ITS NOW PART OF THE ELMHURST ART MUSEUM.

THE MUSEUM EMPHASIZES WORK BY ILLINOIS ARTISTS.

THIS MANSION WAS BUILT BY HENRY GLOS, A DESCENDANT OF ELMHURST'S VERY FIRST SETTLER, A BAVARIAN IMMIGRANT NAMED JOHN GLOS, WHO MOVED HERE IN 1837.

THE FAMILY PICKED THIS AREA OVER THE EAST COAST BECAUSE THE FARMLAND WAS MORE FERTILE.

THE OLD MANSION IS NOW OWNED BY THE CITY AND HAS BEEN THE HOME OF THE ELMHURST HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

THE CHICAGO FIRE OF 1871 USHERED IN A GILDED AGE IN ELMHURST.

MANY WEALTHY REFUGEES OF THE FIRE WERE SHELTERED IN ELMHURST MANSIONS.

IN THE FIRE'S AFTERMATH, THEY DECIDED TO MOVE TO HERE AND BUILT MANSIONS OF THEIR OWN.

IN 1914, ONE OF THE OLD ESTATES WAS CONVERTED INTO A SANITARIUM WHERE PATIENTS CAME FOR VERY UNCONVENTIONAL TREATMENT.

THAT'S WHERE DR. HENRY LINDLAHR ADMINISTERED HIS "NATURE CURE."

IT WAS ADVERTISED AS "NO SURGERY, NO DRUGS AND NO SERUMS."

INSTEAD, HE TREATED PATIENTS WITH A COMBINATION OF A VEGETARIAN DIET, AIR BATHS AND SUNBATHS, HYDROTHERAPY, EXERCISE, AND MANIPULATION.

HE ADVERTISED THAT HE COULD TREAT ALL ILLNESSES EXCEPT THOSE REQUIRING A QUARANTINE, AND PATIENTS WHO WERE "VIOLENTLY INSANE" ACCORDING TO THE ELMHURST HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

HE TREATED SUCH CELEBRITY PATIENTS AS CLARENCE DARROW, SINCLAIR LEWIS, AND EUGENE DEBS, WHO DIED THERE IN 1926.

LINDLAHR AND HIS WIFE ALSO WROTE THE "NATURE CURE COOKBOOK" TOO.

TWELVE U.S. PRESIDENTS POSED FOR A PAINTER WHO LIVED IN WHAT IS NOW ELMHURST.

GEORGE PETER ALEXANDER HEALY'S SUBJECTS INCLUDED PRESIDENTS JACKSON, TYLER, VAN BUREN, POLK AND GRANT.

HEALY PAINTED SEVERAL LINCOLN PORTRAITS, INCLUDING THE ONLY BEARDLESS ONE.

IT WAS USED FOR A ONE-CENT STAMP IN 1959.

ASPIRING JAZZ MUSICIANS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY CONVERGE ON ELMHURST COLLEGE EACH YEAR FOR THEIR ANNUAL JAZZ FESTIVAL.

THE PLAYERS ARE CRITIQUED BY BIG NAME MUSICIANS WHO SERVE AS JUDGES AND GIVE PERFORMANCES.

ELMHURST COLLEGE'S OWN JAZZ BAND IS ONE OF THE BEST AROUND.

YOU'LL FIND SOME IMPORTANT PRAIRIE STYLE HOMES IN ELMHURST, DESIGNED BY A LOCAL RESIDENT NAMED WALTER BURLEY GRIFFIN.

HE STARTED OUT WORKING FOR FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND LATER BECAME AN IMPORTANT PRAIRIE ARCHITECT IN HIS OWN RIGHT.

GRIFFIN INTRODUCED THE PRAIRIE STYLE TO AUSTRALIA WHEN WE WON A COMPETITION TO DESIGN THE NEW CAPITAL CITY OF CANBERRA.

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF RESTORED MOVIE PALACES IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS.

THE YORK THEATRE WAS BUILT IN 1924 AND WAS KNOWN AS "THE JOY SPOT OF ELMHURST."

IT WAS RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL SPANISH MEDITERRANEAN GLORY IN 1991.

THERE'S MORE OF THE WESTERN SUBURBS STILL TO COME!

INCLUDING THE HILLSIDE CEMETERY WHERE AL CAPONE AND SOME OF CHICAGO'S HOLIEST CHURCH LEADERS ARE BURIED... AND A GRAVEYARD FOR CIRCUS PERFORMERS IN FOREST PARK, THE ORIGINAL KIDDIELAND IN MELROSE PARK, THE HEALING POWER OF BASKETBALL IN MAYWOOD, THE INVENTORS OF THE TWINKIE, THE MARS BAR AND KOOL-AID IN RIVER FOREST, ERNEST HEMINGWAY AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT IN OAK PARK, AND LOT'S MORE.

SO DON'T GO AWAY!

(ANNOUNCER) MAJOR FUNDING FOR "CHICAGO'S WESTERN SUBURBS-- FROM PRARIE SOIL TO PRARIE STYLE," IS PROVIDED BY HARRIS.

(NARRATOR) IN 1882, NORMAN HARRIS ARRIVED IN CHICAGO WITH A DREAM.

IT BECAME CHICAGO'S HOMETOWN BANK.

NOW HELPING CUSTOMERS THROUGHOUT CHICAGOLAND LIVE THEIR DREAMS; SERVING BUSINESSES LARGE, SMALL, AND PETITE; HELPING COUPLES BUY HOMES; ADVISING FAMILIES WHO'VE BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS.

NO MATTER WHO ARE, YOU AND YOUR DREAMS ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED AT HARRIS.

LION POWER-- WITH YOU ALL THE WAY.

♪♪ BERKELEY ILLINOIS IS KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BY PEOPLE WITH GOOD HYGIENE.

AFTER ALL, WHEN YOU'RE USING ONE OF THESE WARM AIR HAND DRYERS, THERE'S REALLY NOT MUCH TO LOOK AT, SO INEVITABLY YOU READ THE LABEL AND THE LABEL SAYS... "WORLD DRYER CORPORATION, BERKELEY, ILLINOIS."

THE COMPANY WAS FOUNDED IN 1948, BY THE INVENTOR OF THE WARM AIR HAND DRYER, CHICAGOAN, GEORGE CLEMENS.

♪♪ MT.

CARMEL CEMETERY IN HILLSIDE IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF SOME NOTABLE SAINTS AND SINNERS.

AL CAPONE IS BURIED HERE, ALONG WITH OTHER GANGSTERS LIKE DION O'BANION, FRANK NITTI, HYMIE WEISS, "MACHINE GUN" JACK MCGURN AND SAM GIANCANA.

BUT YOU'LL ALSO FIND THE "BISHOP'S MAUSOLEUM" HERE, CONTAINING THE EARTHLY REMAINS OF MANY LEADERS OF THE CHICAGO ARCHDIOCESE, INCLUDING CARDINALS BERNARDIN, CODY AND STRITCH; AS WELL AS BISHOP QUIGLEY WHO COMMISSIONED THE MAUSOLEUM.

IT SITS ATOP A LITTLE HILL.

A STATUE OF THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL SOUNDING HIS TRUMPET TOPS THE STRUCTURE.

♪♪ NORTHLAKE IS A TOWN WHERE HOME BUYERS BUILT THE AMERICAN DREAM WITH THEIR OWN HANDS.

THE MIDLAND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY SOLD LOTS AND BUILT SHELLS FOR HUNDREDS OF CAPE COD-STYLE HOMES.

BUYERS DID THE REST, INSTALLING THE PLUMBING AND HEATING, WIRING UP ELECTRICAL FIXTURES AND PAINTING.

THE DEAL WAS ESPECIALLY APPEALING TO WORKERS AT A NEARBY DEFENSE PLANT, WHO HAD THE SKILLS AND WANTED TO SAVE THE MONEY.

♪♪ GENERATIONS OF KIDS HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF MELROSE PARK, BECAUSE IT'S THE HOME OF THE ORIGINAL KIDDIELAND, THE REGION'S OLDEST AMUSEMENT PARK.

KIDDIELAND'S FOUNDER, ARTHUR "GRANDPA" FRITZ WAS A BUILDING CONTRACTOR WHO FOUND HIMSELF OUT OF WORK IN 1929 AS THE GREAT DEPRESSION WAS TAKING HOLD.

HE THOUGHT FOLKS MIGHT BE WILLING TO SPEND A LITTLE MONEY TO FORGET THEIR TROUBLES FOR A WHILE, SO HE STARTED OFFERING PONY RIDES.

HE EXPANDED THE OPERATION WITH MINIATURE GASOLINE POWERED CARS.

FRITZ COULDN'T TRADEMARK THE NAME KIDDIELAND AND BY 1944 THERE WERE TEN OTHER KIDDIELANDS IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

BUT THIS IS THE ONLY ONE STILL SURVIVING.

THE OLDEST RIDES STILL OPERATING ARE THE ROTO-WHIP, INSTALLED IN 1939, AND THE FERRIS WHEEL INSTALLED IN 1940.

THIS REAL WORKING STEAM TRAIN FROM 1937 WAS RESTORED AND PUT BACK INTO SERVICE IN 2005.

THE PARK IS CURRENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THE FOUNDER'S FAMILY.

IMAGINE AN ITALIAN CATHOLIC VERSION OF TASTE OF CHICAGO.

THE ANNUAL FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MT.

CARMEL HAS BEEN A MELROSE PARK TRADITION SINCE 1894.

THE EVENT CULMINATES WITH A PROCESSION IN WHICH THE STATUE OF OUR LADY OF MT.

CARMEL IS CARRIED THROUGH THE STREETS TO THE CHURCH AS THE FAITHFUL SHOWER HER WITH ROSE PETALS.

INTERESTINGLY, LATINOS NOW OUTNUMBER ITALIAN-AMERICANS IN MELROSE PARK, ALTHOUGH MANY ITALIAN-AMERICANS DO STILL LIVE HERE.

MELROSE PARK IS THE HEADQUARTERS OF JEWEL FOOD STORES.

JEWEL WAS FORMED IN 1899 WHEN BROTHERS-IN-LAWS FRANK SKIFF AND FRANK ROSS STARTED SELLING COFFEE, TEA AND SPICES, DOOR TO DOOR FROM A USED CART DRAWN BY A RENTED HORSE.

THE WORD "JEWEL" WAS POPULAR SLANG IN THOSE DAYS FOR ANYTHING SPECIAL, SO THEY CALLED THEIR COMPANY JEWEL TEA.

♪♪ MAYWOOD HISTORICALLY HAD A MIX OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND WHITE RESIDENTS WHO LIVED IN SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS.

BUT IN THE 1960S, WHITE FLIGHT AND A NEW INFLUX OF AFRICAN AMERICANS SPARKED RACIAL TENSION THAT ERUPTED INTO VIOLENCE.

THEN, THE COMMUNITY FOUND SOMETHING THAT UNITED IT; THE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TEAM.

IN THE LATE 1960S, THERE WERE RACE RIOTS AT PROVISO EAST HIGH SCHOOL.

ONE FORMER PROVISO STUDENT, THE FUTURE BLACK PANTHER FRED HAMPTON, LED A MARCH ON MAYWOOD'S VILLAGE HALL TO PROTEST THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL IN THE COMMUNITY.

HAMPTON WAS A CHARISMATIC LEADER.

SO WHEN HE WAS GUNNED DOWN IN HIS BED BY POLICE ON CHICAGO'S WEST SIDE IN 1969, RACE RELATIONS IN MAYWOOD AND ELSEWHERE REACHED A LOW POINT.

BUT THAT SAME YEAR, PROVISO EAST HIGH SCHOOL WON ITS FIRST STATE BASKETBALL TITLE.

PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN MAYWOOD BACK THEN HAVE TOLD ME THAT ROOTING FOR THE BASKETBALL TEAM WENT A LONG WAY TO HEALING RACIAL TENSIONS DURING THAT DIFFICULT TIME.

MANY PROVISO EAST GRADS HAVE GONE ON TO NBA CAREERS.

TODAY, THE PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL IN MAYWOOD IS NAMED FOR FRED HAMPTON.

PROVISO EAST PRODUCED AT LEAST ONE STAR WHO WASN'T A BASKETBALL PLAYER.

EMMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR DENNIS FRANZ, BEST KNOW FOR HIS PORTRAYAL OF DETECTIVE ANDY SIPOWITZ ON "NYPD BLUE."

HIS REAL NAME IS DENNIS FRANZ SCHLACTA.

AT PROVISO EAST, HE ACTED IN SCHOOL PLAYS.

FOLLOWING COLLEGE AND A TOUR OF DUTY IN VIETNAM, HE JOINED CHICAGO'S BURGEONING STOREFRONT THEATRE SCENE WHERE HE APPEARED WITH CICERO NATIVE JOE MANTEGNA AND OTHERS AT THE ORGANIC THEATRE.

HE CO-WROTE THE COMPANY'S CLASSIC CHICAGO CUBS HOMAGE "BLEACHER BUMS."

HE MOVED ON TO A HOLLYWOOD CAREER PLAYING CHARACTER PARTS-- OFTEN COPS.

HIS BIG BREAK CAME WHEN HE WAS CAST AS LT. BUNTZ IN "HILL STREET BLUES."

MAYWOOD GREW INTO A WORKING CLASS COMMUNITY OF MODEST HOMES.

THE LARGEST EMPLOYER WAS THE NORTON CAN WORKS.

LATER IT BECAME AMERICAN CAN COMPANY.

MAYWOOD HELPED TO PIONEER AIRMAIL IN 1919 AT CHECKERBOARD AIR FIELD AND ITS SUCCESSOR MAYWOOD AIRFIELD.

CHARLES LINDBERGH WAS ONE OF THE AIRMAIL PILOTS THERE.

HE MAPPED OUT THE ROUTE BETWEEN SAINT LOUIS AND MAYWOOD.

MAYWOOD ALSO PLAYS A PART IN THE HISTORY OF AUTO RACING.

IT WAS ONCE THE HOME OF MAYWOOD SPEEDWAY.

WHEN THE SPEEDWAY WENT BANKRUPT, THE FOUNDATION THAT HELD UP THE GRANDSTANDS WAS RE-USED FOR HINES HOSPITAL, AND THAT'S WHY THE HOSPITAL HAS AN ODD ELONGATED SHAPE.

IT OPENED IN 1921 TO TREAT SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN WORLD WAR I.

TODAY, IT'S PART OF A HUGE HOSPITAL COMPLEX THAT ALSO INCLUDES LOYOLA MEDICAL CENTER.

LOYOLA HAS ONE OF THE LARGEST HEART-LUNG TRANSPLANT PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES.

PEOPLE WHO STOP FOR A BURGER AT THIS MAYWOOD MCDONALD'S MIGHT JUST LEARN A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY.

THE RESTAURANT STANDS ON THE VERY SITE OF AN OLD INN CALLED TEN-MILE HOUSE.

IT WAS A STOP ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FOR FUGITIVE SLAVES TRAVELING ALONG THE DES PLAINES RIVER.

A MONUMENT INCLUDING SLAVE MANACLES COMMEMORATES THE IMPORTANT HISTORY OF THIS LOCATION.

IT'S JUST A SMALL PART OF LOCAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY THAT'S BEEN DISCOVERED BY THE STAFF AT MAYWOOD'S WEST TOWN MUSEUM OF CULTURAL HISTORY.

MAYWOOD IS THE HOME OF ONE OF THE CHICAGO AREA'S MOST IMPORTANT WRITERS ON CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN ISSUES, SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST MARY MITCHELL.

SHE WAS RAISED IN CHICAGO PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS AND WORKED IN DEAD-END OFFICE JOBS UNTIL GOING BACK TO SCHOOL TO STUDY JOURNALISM.

ONE OF HER PROFESSORS WORKED FOR THE SUN-TIMES AND ENCOURAGED HER TO APPLY FOR AN INTERNSHIP THERE.

SHE DID, AND BECAME ONE OF THE PAPERS FASTEST RISING STARS.

♪ WE HAD AN APARTMENT ♪ ♪ IN THE CITY ♪ (GEOFFERY BAER) SINGER/SONGWRITER JOHN PRINE WAS BORN IN MAYWOOD.

WHILE HE WAS WORKING AS A MAIL CARRIER IN TOWN HE APPEARED AT AN OPEN MIC IN A LOCAL BAR.

THE BAR OWNER OFFERED HIM A JOB ON THE SPOT.

BONNIE RAITT MADE HIS SONG "ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY" A HIT.

♪ MAKE ME AN ANGEL, ♪ ♪ THAT FLIES ON... ♪ ♪♪ (GEOFFERY BAER) IT'S BEEN SAID THAT THE COMMUNITY OF FOREST PARK IS MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE... THAT'S BECAUSE FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS FOREST PARK'S MAIN INDUSTRY HAS BEEN...

CEMETERIES LOCATED ALONG THE EAST BANK OF THE DES PLAINES RIVER.

ALTOGETHER, THEY CONTAIN NEARLY 590,000 GRAVES, ALMOST 40 TIMES THE POPULATION OF FOREST PARK.

IN FACT, A MUCH LARGER POPULATION THAN ANY CITY IN ILLINOIS EXCEPT CHICAGO.

THE VERY FIRST CEMETERY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1870 BY THE FREE SONS OF ISRAEL.

TODAY IT'S JEWISH WALDHEIM, THE LARGEST JEWISH CEMETERY IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR CAME HERE TO ATTEND THE FUNERAL OF HER THIRD HUSBAND, FILM PRODUCER MICHAEL TODD.

HE DIED WHEN HIS PLANE, THE LUCKY LIZ, CRASHED IN NEW MEXICO IN 1958.

CONCORDIA CEMETERY, WAS STARTED BY LUTHERANS IN 1872.

GERMAN WALDHEIM WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1873 BY A GROUP OF CHICAGO GERMAN MASONIC LODGES.

IN FOREST HOME CEMETERY, YOU'LL FIND "RADICALS ROW," CONTAINING THE GRAVES OF MORE THAN 60 ANARCHISTS, SOCIALISTS AND LABOR ACTIVISTS.

INCLUDING THE FAMOUS RADICAL EMMA GOLDMAN.

THEY'RE BURIED HERE BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE NEAR THE GRAVES OF FOUR ANARCHISTS KNOWN AS THE HAYMARKET MARTYRS.

THE FOUR WERE CONVICTED AND HANGED FOLLOWING A DEADLY RIOT IN CHICAGO.

THE RIOT HAPPENED ON MAY 4, 1886 WHEN POLICE TRIED TO BREAK UP A PRO-LABOR RALLY IN CHICAGO'S HAYMARKET SQUARE AND SOMEONE THREW A BOMB.

AFTERWARDS, POLICE ROUNDED UP KNOWN ANARCHISTS AT THE URGING OF CHICAGO'S POWERFUL CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY.

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR JOHN PETER ALTGELD ELECTED AFTER THE HANGINGS DENOUNCED THEM AS A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE AND PARDONED THE THREE SURVIVING CONVICTED ANARCHISTS.

THE DECISION RUINED HIS POLITICAL CAREER.

IN WOODLAWN CEMETERY, FIVE GRANITE ELEPHANTS MARK THE SECTION WHERE HUNDREDS OF CIRCUS PERFORMERS ARE BURIED.

A TRAGEDY BROUGHT THE FIRST 56 PERFORMERS HERE IN 1918.

THEY WERE KILLED IN THE WRECK OF A CIRCUS TRAIN NEAR GARY, INDIANA.

THE SHOWMEN'S LEAGUE OF AMERICA PAID FOR THE PLOTS AND THE MONUMENTS.

WITH ALL THE CEMETERIES, YOU MIGHT THINK FOREST PARK WAS A DEPRESSING PLACE.

FAR FROM IT.

IN ITS EARLY GERMAN IMMIGRANT DAYS, BOISTEROUS SINGING SOCIETIES AND LOTS OF GERMAN BEER MADE IT A TARGET FOR TEMPERANCE CRUSADERS.

♪♪ RIVER FOREST WAS ORGANIZED AS A SOBER METHODIST TOWN.

BUT IT HAD A SWEET TOOTH.

OVER THE YEARS, ITS BEEN HOME TO THE FATHERS OF KOOL-AID, THE TWINKIE, AND THE MARS BAR!

THE TWINKIE WAS INVENTED BY JAMES DEWAR.

HE STARTED OUT AS A WAGON DRIVER FOR THE CONTINENTAL BAKING PLANT IN RIVER FOREST IN 1920.

HE NOTICED THAT THE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MACHINE SAT IDLE WHENEVER STRAWBERRIES WERE OUT OF SEASON.

SO HE CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF STUFFING THE LITTLE CAKES WITH CREAM FILLING AND SELLING THEM YEAR ROUND.

HE EVEN THOUGHT UP THE NAME AFTER HE SAW A BILLBOARD ADVERTISING TWINKLE TOE SHOES.

SOON HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY WHICH LATER BECAME HOSTESS.

DEWAR LIVED TO BE 88.

IN HIS OLD AGE HE USED TO BRAG THAT HE WAS A CHAIN SMOKER AND ATE THREE TWINKIES EVERY DAY.

FRANKLIN MARS LEARNED HOW TO MAKE CANDY FROM HIS MOTHER WHEN HE WAS A CHILD IN MINNESOTA.

HE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH HER IN THE KITCHEN AFTER HE CONTRACTED POLIO.

HE INTRODUCED SOMETHING CALLED THE MAR-O-BAR IN 1920 IN MINNEAPOLIS.

IT WASN'T MUCH OF A SUCCESS.

BUT WHEN HE INVENTED THE MILKY WAY BAR IN 1923, HE HAD A HIT.

HE MOVED HIS BUSINESS TO CHICAGO IN 1929, AND BOUGHT A HOUSE IN RIVER FOREST.

UNLIKE THE LONG-LIVED FOUNDER OF THE TWINKIE, FRANKLIN MARS DIED AT AGE 51.

THE INVENTOR OF KOOL-AID ALSO USED HIS MOTHER'S KITCHEN TO COOK UP HIS CONCOCTION.

AS A YOUNG MAN, EDWIN PERKINS STARTED SELLING A DRINK MIX CALLED "FRUIT SMACK" BY MAIL FROM HIS HOME IN NEBRASKA.

IT WAS A SYRUP CONCENTRATE THAT WAS SOLD IN BOTTLES.

BUT THEY WERE HEAVY AND TENDED TO BREAK IN THE MAIL.

SO IN 1927, HE CAME UP WITH A WAY TO SELL POWDERED DRINK MIX IN PACKETS.

AS THE POPULARITY OF THE PRODUCT GREW, HE MOVED HIS OPERATION TO CHICAGO AND BOUGHT A LARGE HOME HERE IN RIVER FOREST.

PERKINS DIED IN 1961.

KOOL-AID IS THE OFFICIAL SOFT DRINK OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA.

COMMUTERS WHO TAKE THE TRAIN FROM CHICAGO TO RIVER FOREST ARE FOLLOWING THE PATH OF THE VERY FIRST RAILROAD TRAIN IN CHICAGO.

THE GALENA AND CHICAGO UNION RAILROAD MADE ITS INAUGURAL RUN FROM CHICAGO TO WHAT IS NOW RIVER FOREST, ON OCTOBER 24, 1848.

BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, THE TRAIN WAS UNDERWHELMING.

A THIRD-HAND ENGINE CALLED THE PIONEER PULLED ONE PASSENGER CAR WITH DIGNITARIES, AND ONE EMPTY FREIGHT CAR.

BUT TO THE CROWDS ASSEMBLED FOR ITS ARRIVAL IN RIVER FOREST IT MUST HAVE SEEMED LIKE A WONDER.

AS SOON AS THERE WAS A RAILROAD, SPECULATORS STARTED DEVELOPING LAND FOR HOUSES IN RIVER FOREST.

THIS WELL-PRESERVED HOME IS TYPICAL OF THE ITALIAN VILLA STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE THAT WAS POPULAR AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.

THE GRAND ITALIANATE HOMES WERE PRETTY ENOUGH TO LOOK AT.

BUT IT WAS RIVER FOREST'S MODERN HOMES THAT BECAME VERY INFLUENTIAL ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

THEY WERE FEATURED IN MAGAZINES LIKE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, LADIES HOME JOURNAL AND COUNTRY LIFE IN ARTICLES WRITTEN BY ARCHITECT ROBERT SPENCER.

SPENCER WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S.

HE DESIGNED THIS HOME FOR HIMSELF IN RIVER FOREST IN 1896.

LOCAL PRAIRIE STYLE ARCHITECT WILLIAM DRUMMOND SPOKE OUT AGAINST COOKIE-CUTTER CITY PLANNING.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE DRUMMOND'S IDEA OF SOMETHING BETTER, VISIT THE 700 BLOCK OF WILLIAM STREET IN RIVER FOREST.

THIS MAY BE THE ONLY SURVIVING EXAMPLE ANYWHERE OF AN ENTIRE BLOCK OF MODESTLY PRICED AUTHENTIC PRAIRIE STYLE HOMES.

THE DESIGNS ARE ATTRIBUTED TO DRUMMOND AND ANOTHER ARCHITECT AND DATE FROM 1913 TO 1917.

DRUMMOND ALSO DESIGNED THE RIVER FOREST WOMEN'S CLUB, AND HIS OWN RIVER FOREST HOME.

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDINGS IN RIVER FOREST, BUT YOU MIGHT NOT RECOGNIZE SOME OF THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE DESIGNED BEFORE WRIGHT HAD FULLY DEVELOPED HIS PRAIRIE STYLE.

YOU'LL FIND THE BEST COLLECTION OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOMES ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY IN OAK PARK, THAT'S THE NEXT AND LAST STOP ON OUR TOUR.

♪♪ "IT WAS IN OAK PARK "THAT THE MODERN AMERICAN HOME WAS BORN," ACCORDING TO THE EDITOR OF THE AIA GUIDE TO CHICAGO, ALICE SINKEVITCH.

THE FATHER WAS FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

WRIGHT BUILT HIS OWN HOME HERE IN 1889.

HE WAS 22 YEARS OLD, NEWLY MARRIED AND WORKING FOR THE GREAT CHICAGO ARCHITECT LOUIS SULLIVAN.

HE AND HIS WIFE WOULD RAISE SIX CHILDREN HERE.

THE STUDIO WAS ADDED IN 1898.

THE ENTIRE COMPOSITION BOLDLY EXPRESSES THE INTERIOR ON THE OUTSIDE AND ITS ROOTED IN POWERFUL GEOMETRIC FORMS.

THE PLAYROOM THAT WRIGHT CREATED FOR HIS CHILDREN HAS A BARREL-VAULTED CEILING, A FANTASY MURAL ON THE WALL , LOW WINDOWS WITH STORAGE SEATS, AND KID-SIZED FURNITURE.

TWENTY YEARS AFTER MOVING TO OAK PARK, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT SCANDALIZED THE COMMUNITY BY ABANDONING HIS FAMILY AND RUNNING OFF WITH THE WIFE OF A CLIENT.

AFTER LEAVING, WRIGHT CONVERTED THE STUDIO INTO A RESIDENCE FOR THE FAMILY HE LEFT BEHIND, AND RENTED OUT THE HOME.

IT WAS LATER CUT UP INTO SIX APARTMENTS.

THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION BOUGHT THE HOUSE IN 1974.

AND THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOME AND STUDIO FOUNDATION WAS FORMED TO RESTORE IT.

IT'S NOW A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK.

THERE ARE 25 BUILDINGS DESIGNED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT STILL STANDING IN OAK PARK.

WE'LL SEE MORE OF THEM IN A MOMENT.

OAK PARK IS HIGH GROUND.

IT STANDS ON THE SHORES OF PREHISTORIC LAKE CHICAGO, WHICH RECEDED TO BECOME LAKE MICHIGAN.

A SUB-CONTINENTAL DIVIDE RUNS DIAGONALLY RIGHT THROUGH THE TOWN.

LAND DEVELOPERS WERE ATTRACTED TO THIS HIGH, DRY GROUND ON THE SWAMPY PRAIRIE.

ONE OF THEM, JAMES SCOVILLE USED TO RECITE POETRY TO MORNING COMMUTERS AT OAK PARK'S RAILROAD STATION.

AS OAK PARK EXPANDED, THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT GREW.

LANDOWNER HENRY AUSTIN BOUGHT SEVERAL TAVERNS, SHUT THEM DOWN AND THREW THE LIQUOR INTO THE STREETS ACCORDING TO THE OAK PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

AUSTIN WAS ALSO A STATE LEGISLATOR WHO HELPED PASS A LAW BANNING ALCOHOL IN OAK PARK.

HARLEM WAS THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN DRY OAK PARK AND THE SALOONS OF FOREST PARK.

TEMPERANCE ADVOCATES CALLED IT THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN DAMNATION AND SALVATION, AND THE PLACE WHERE SALOONS STOPPED AND CHURCH STEEPLES BEGAN.

♪♪ HENRY AUSTIN'S PROPERTY IS NOW A PARK CALLED AUSTIN GARDENS.

UNTIL THE 1880S, OAK PARK'S HOMES WERE BUILT IN A MISHMASH OF HISTORIC STYLES.

SOMETIMES SEVERAL STYLES WERE MIXED TOGETHER IN ONE BUILDING.

THIS WAS THE WORLD INTO WHICH FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT MOVED IN 1889.

AND HE DIDN'T THINK MUCH OF IT.

THIS IS WHAT HE WROTE ABOUT THE TYPICAL VICTORIAN HOUSES OF THE DAY, "THEIR EXTERIORS," HE SAID, "WERE BE-DEVILED... "WITH JIGGERWORK, ROSETTES AND FANTAILS."

HE CALLED THEM "SCRAP-PILES" AND SAID THEY WERE AS FAR FROM SERENITY AS THE PANDEMONIUM OF THE BARNYARD IS FROM MUSIC.

BUT EARLY IN HIS CAREER, IF HE WANTED TO WORK, HE HAD TO DESIGN WHAT THE CLIENT WANTED.

HIS FIRST TWO COMMISSIONS IN OAK PARK HAVE BEEN CALLED HIS "BOOTLEG" HOUSES, BECAUSE HE DESIGNED THEM TO MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY WHILE HE WAS STILL WORKING FOR LOUIS SULLIVAN.

WHEN SULLIVAN FOUND OUT, WRIGHT WAS FIRED.

IN OAK PARK YOU CAN REALLY SEE HOW WRIGHT'S STYLE MATURED OVER THE YEARS.

THE NATHAN G. MOORE HOUSE BUILT EARLY IN HIS INDEPENDENT CAREER IS AN AMAZING MIXTURE OF TRADITIONAL TUDOR AND MORE CHARACTERISTIC WRIGHT DESIGN.

IT'S ESPECIALLY PRONOUNCED HERE, BECAUSE WRIGHT WAS INVITED BACK TO RESTORE THE HOUSE AFTER A FIRE IN 1922, AND HE ADDED ELEMENTS OF HIS MATURE STYLE.

THE FRANK W. THOMAS HOUSE FROM 1901 IS WRIGHT'S FIRST TRUE PRAIRIE STYLE HOUSE ACCORDING TO THE AIA GUIDE TO CHICAGO.

THE OPENNESS OF WRIGHT'S PRAIRIE HOUSES IS TIED TO THE MIDWESTERN LANDSCAPE AND TO NOTIONS OF DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM.

IT WAS INSPIRED NOT BY HISTORICAL STYLES, BUT BY THE HONESTY OF NATURE'S FORMS.

OF ALL WRIGHT'S BUILDINGS IN OAK PARK, THIS ONE, UNITY TEMPLE, MIGHT BE THE MOST CELEBRATED.

NEVER ONE FOR FALSE MODESTY, WRIGHT HIMSELF SAID THAT MODERN ARCHITECTURE BEGAN WHEN HE DESIGNED THIS BUILDING IN 1905.

HE MADE THE BUILDING SOMETHING OF A CONCRETE FORTRESS AGAINST THE NOISE AND BUSTLE OF LAKE STREET AND ITS TROLLEY LINE, BY PUTTING THE ENTRANCE AROUND THE CORNER ON QUIETER KENILWORTH AVENUE.

WRIGHT KNEW HOW TO BUILD A SENSE OF ANTICIPATION.

ON YOUR WAY INTO THE SANCTUARY YOU TAKE SEVERAL DISORIENTING TURNS AND YOU'RE COMPRESSED INTO TIGHTER AND DARKER SPACES.

SO THAT WHEN YOU FINALLY EMERGE INTO WHAT HE CALLED THE "NOBLE ROOM" YOU FEEL A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF RELEASE AND OPENNESS.

THE SPACE IS SERENE AND SIMPLE.

THROUGH THE WINDOWS YOU SEE ONLY TREES, SKY AND CLOUDS.

UNFORTUNATELY, CONCRETE WAS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD IN WRIGHT'S TIME, AND THE BUILDING SUFFERED FROM DETERIORATION.

ALSO THE ART GLASS CRACKED AND SAGGED OVER TIME.

THE UNITY TEMPLE RESTORATION FOUNDATION FORMED IN 1973 HAS A GOAL OF COMPLETELY RESTORING THE BUILDING BY 2009.

THEY PRICE TAG IS ESTIMATED TO BE $12 TO $15 MILLION.

IN CASE YOU THOUGHT THAT THE ONLY IMPORTANT ARCHITECTURE IN OAK PARK WAS BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT FULLY A THIRD OF THE HOMES IN THE VILLAGE ARE IN HISTORIC DISTRICTS.

THE CROWN JEWEL OF THE RIDGELAND HISTORIC DISTRICT IS PLEASANT HOME.

GEORGE W. MAHER DESIGNED IT FOR INVESTMENT BANKER AND PHILANTHROPIST JOHN W. FARSON IN 1897.

THIS IS THE ONLY MAHER-DESIGNED HOME OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

THE LOW HIPPED ROOF, WIDE PORCH AND LONG NARROW BUFF-COLORED BRICKS CREATE A HORIZONTAL FEELING CONSISTENT WITH PRAIRIE STYLE.

THIS BUILDING WAS SAVED FROM DEMOLITION BY ONE VOTE IN 1966.

IT'S MAINTAINED AND OPERATED BY THE PARK DISTRICT OF OAK PARK.

IT'S A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK, AND IS HOME TO BOTH THE PLEASANT HOME FOUNDATION AND THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST.

OAK PARK IS NOT ONLY THE BIRTHPLACE OF A NEW, MODERN RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE IT'S ALSO THE BIRTHPLACE OF A NEW KIND OF MODERNISM IN LITERATURE.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S WRITING WAS AS DIRECT AND ORIGINAL AS FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S DESIGNS.

HEMINGWAY WAS BORN IN A SECOND FLOOR BEDROOM OF THIS HOUSE ON JULY 21, 1899, THREE YEARS BEFORE OAK PARK WAS INCORPORATED.

THERE'S A STORY THAT HIS FATHER WHO WAS A LOCAL DOCTOR-- ANNOUNCED THE BIRTH OF HIS SON BY STEPPING OUT HERE ON TO THE PORCH AND BLOWING A CORONET.

♪♪ HIS MOTHER TAUGHT MUSIC IN THE HOUSE AND HELD PERFORMANCES.

ERNEST SANG, PLAYED CELLO AND ACTED.

YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD THE SUBURBAN MYTH THAT HEMINGWAY BLASTED HIS HOMETOWN WITH THE LINE, "BROAD LAWNS AND NARROW MINDS."

YOU FIND THE QUOTE EVERYWHERE.

BUT THE TRUTH IS THERE'S NO EVIDENCE HE EVER SAID IT.

AS A JOURNALIST, HEMINGWAY WORKED AS A WAR CORRESPONDENT.

HE WON THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE IN 1954.

HIS WORKS INCLUDE "THE SUN ALSO RISES," "A FAREWELL TO ARMS," AND THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL "THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA."

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS WROTE 22 TARZAN BOOKS IN OAK PARK BETWEEN 1912 AND 1919.

DURING WORLD WAR II, HE WAS A LOS ANGELES TIMES WAR CORRESPONDENT.

OAK PARK RESIDENT DONALD DUNCAN DIDN'T INVENT THE YO-YO, BUT HE WAS THE MARKETING GENIUS WHO MADE IT POPULAR THROUGHOUT THE WORLD IN THE 1930S.

TALK ABOUT A MAN OF MANY TALENTS, HE ALSO GAVE THE GOOD HUMOR ICE CREAM COMPANY ITS NAME AND HE INVENTED THE FIRST PRACTICAL PARKING METER, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE HIS MOST SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS.

COMEDIAN BOB NEWHART WAS BORN IN OAK PARK IN 1929.

HE WORKED AS AN ACCOUNTANT AFTER GRADUATING FROM LOYOLA UNIVERSITY IN CHICAGO AND HE MADE A LITTLE EXTRA MONEY WRITING AND RECORDING COMEDY SKETCHES ON THE RADIO.

A RECORD PRODUCER HEARD HIM AND WHEN HIS FIRST ALBUM, "THE BUTTON-DOWN MIND" WAS RELEASED IN 1960, HE BECAME A STAR.

>> I CAN'T WAIT... (GEOFFERY BAER) THE VOICE OF HOMER SIMPSON, DAN CASTELLANETA, IS A 1975 GRADUATE OF OAK PARK RIVER FOREST HIGH SCHOOL.

OTHER FAMOUS OAK PARKERS INCLUDE FATHER ANDREW GREELEY, CHICAGO BEARS COACH, GEORGE HALAS.

RADIO LEGEND, PAUL HARVEY, GOLDEN GIRL AND GAME SHOW VETERAN BETTY WHITE, AND ACTOR JOHN MAHONEY, BEST KNOWN AS FRASIER'S DAD.

HE'S ALSO A STEPPENWOLF THEATRE ENSEMBLE MEMBER.

DR. PERCY LAVON JULIAN WAS A PIONEERING SCIENTIST WHO WAS THE FIRST TO SYNTHESIZE CORTISONE FROM SOYBEANS, MAKING IT WIDELY AVAILABLE.

WHEN JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO OAK PARK IN 1951, THEY THOUGHT THEY'D FINALLY OVERCOME DECADES OF RACE DISCRIMINATION IN ACADEMIA AND IN THE BUSINESS WORLD.

BUT SHORTLY AFTER MOVING HERE, THEIR HOUSE WAS ATTACKED BY ARSONISTS, AND A YEAR LATER A BOMB WAS THROWN AT IT.

IN THE 60S AND 70S WHITE FLIGHT AND TURBULENT RACE RELATIONS WERE CREATING BIG PROBLEMS IN SUBURBS CLOSE TO OAK PARK AND IN THE CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD OF AUSTIN ON ITS EASTERN BORDER.

BUT THIS COMMUNITY WORKED EXTREMELY HARD TO BECOME A MODEL OF DIVERSITY AND RACIAL INTEGRATION.

VILLAGE OFFICIALS AND THE CLERGY MET ONE-ON-ONE WITH RESIDENTS TO OPEN UP THE COMMUNITY TO PEOPLE OF COLOR AND DISCOURAGE WHITE FLIGHT.

AFRICAN AMERICAN HOME BUYERS WERE ENCOURAGED TO SETTLE THROUGHOUT OAK PARK TO AVOID CREATING SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS.

FOR SALE SIGNS WERE BANNED AND FAIR HOUSING CODES STRICTLY ENFORCED.

THE VILLAGE HAS A POLICY STATEMENT FROM 1973 THAT SAYS, IN PART, "THE PEOPLE OF OAK PARK "HAVE CHOSEN THIS COMMUNITY, "NOT SO MUCH "AS A PLACE TO LIVE, "AS A WAY OF LIFE... "DIVERSITY IS OAK PARK'S STRENGTH."

IT'S FITTING THAT WE END OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE WESTERN SUBURBS WITH THIS VERY AMERICAN IDEAL OF EQUALITY FOR EVERYONE.

AFTER ALL, AS WE'VE SEEN, THE WHOLE REGION WEST OF CHICAGO HAS ALWAYS BEEN A LAND OF AMERICAN OPTIMISM-- OF HOPE AND OPPORTUNITY.

FOR FRONTIER SETTLERS IN SEARCH OF A PLACE TO PUT DOWN ROOTS.

FOR ESCAPED SLAVES FOLLOWING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO FREEDOM.

FOR HARD-WORKING IMMIGRANTS LOOKING TO START OVER IN A NEW COUNTRY.

AND FOR FAMILIES SEEKING NOT ONLY A SAFE AND COMFORTABLE PLACE TO LIVE, BUT A WAY OF LIFE.

"CHICAGO'S WESTERN SUBURBS-- FROM PRARIE SOIL TO PRARIE STYLE," IS PROVIDED BY HARRIS.

(NARRATOR) A LOT OF FINE OLD BANKING NAMES HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM CHICAGOLAND.

AFTER MORE THAN 100 YEARS, HARRIS, IS GOING STRONG IN NEIGHBORHOODS ALL OVER CHICAGOLAND.

HARRIS IS HELPING BUSINESSES FROM START-UPS TO 50 YEAR OLD COMPANIES-- SETTING CUSTOMERS UP WITH CHECKING ACCOUNTS-- HELPING MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE.

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, CHICAGO'S HOMETOWN BANK IS HERE FOR YOU TODAY AND TOMORROW.

LION POWER-- WITH YOU ALL THE WAY.