(GEOFFREY BAER) LIKE MANY PARK BUILDINGS, PULASKI PARK FIELD HOUSE IN CHICAGO HAS BASKETBALL COURTS, A WEIGHT ROOM, A CRAFT ROOM.

BUT IT ALSO HAS SOMETHING UNEXPECTED.

THIS MAGNIFICENT WORK OF ART.

ART INSTITUTE STUDENT JAMES G. GILBERT WON A COMPETITION TO DESIGN IT IN THE EARLY 1920S.

HE GOT A $100 IN PRIZE MONEY AND $200 TO COVER HIS COSTS FOR PAINTING IT.

TREASURES LIKE THIS ARE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT ALL OVER CHICAGO.

WE PASS RIGHT BY THEM EVERY DAY.

BUT IN THIS PROGRAM WE'LL STOP AND TAKE A LOOK.

EACH ONE HAS A FASCINATING STORY TO TELL.

LIKE A COWPATH AMONG THE SKYSCRAPERS, AND AN ALLEY IN THE GOLD COAST PAVED WITH CENTURY-OLD WOOD BLOCKS.

WE GO IN SEARCH OF GHOST SIGNS, OUTDOOR ADS STILL VISIBLE FOR BUSINESSES THAT ARE LONG GONE.

>> WATCH YOUR STEP PLEASE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WE'LL MEET CHICAGO'S LAST ELEVATOR OPERATORS AND PINSETTERS.

WE'LL LEARN WHY BODIES ARE BURIED IN LINCOLN PARK.

IT WAS CHICAGO'S FIRST CEMETERY.

AND VISIT ONE OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG'S FAVORITE JAZZ CLUBS.

IT IS NOW A HARDWARE STORE, BUT A HINT OF ITS HISTORY SURVIVES.

WE FIND FRAGMENTS OF LONG-LOST "L" LINES INCLUDING A BRIDGE TO NOWHERE.

AND RELICS FROM CHICAGO'S HEYDAY AS THE SILENT MOVIE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

WE'LL FIND A STOREFRONT THAT MELTED IN THE CHICAGO FIRE!

IT'S HIDING IN THE BUSHES BEHIND THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM.

AND SEARCH OUT RELICS FROM THE WORLD'S FAIR OF 1893.

I'M GEOFFREY BAER.

JOIN ME AS WE DISCOVER HIDDEN CHICAGO.

♪♪ >> (ANNOUNCER) ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS PROVIDED THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF PETER KELLIHER, JR. AND DIANE KELLIHER.

AND THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION, IN MEMORY OF ALYCE DECOSTA.

♪♪ >> (GEOFFREY BAER) DOUG FREERKSEN ISN'T A SIGN PAINTER.

HIS REAL JOB IS RESTORING HISTORIC HOMES INCLUDING MANY BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

BUT HE WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE EXCITED ABOUT TOUCHING UP THIS 1920S-ERA SIGN FOR AN OAK PARK TAILOR SHOP.

THAT'S BECAUSE THIS SIGN WAS DISCOVERED IN HIS COMPANY'S OWN HEADQUARTERS WHEN THEY BROKE THROUGH A WALL TO DO SOME REMODELING.

>> WHEN WE SAW THE SIGN WE WERE JUST BLOWN AWAY, THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL AND THE SIGN WAS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE, SO RATHER THAN CUT THROUGH THE DOORWAY WHERE WE PLANNED, WE JUST CHANGED ALL OF OUR DESIGN-WORK, SO THAT WE COULD USE THIS ROOM AS A CONFERENCE ROOM AND FEATURE THIS SIGN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS TREASURE WAS BURIED.

BUT MANY GREAT OLD GHOST SIGNS ARE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT.

HIGH ABOVE STATE STREET IN THE LOOP IS AN OLD PAINTED AD FOR THE BOSTON STORE, WHICH ONCE STOOD AT STATE AND MADISON.

BY THE TIME IT WENT OUT OF BUSINESS IN 1945 IT HAD LOST ITS LUSTER AND WAS EVEN RIDICULED IN THIS RHYME: "ALL THE GIRLS "WHO WEAR HIGH HEELS, "THEY ALL SHOP "AT MARSHALL FIELD'S.

"AND ALL THE GIRLS "WHO SCRUB THE FLOOR, "THEY ALL SHOP AT THE BOSTON STORE."

ATOP THE OLD LYTTON'S BUILDING AT STATE AND JACKSON IS A GHOST SIGN ADVERTISING THE MENSWEAR STORE'S NICKNAME "THE HUB."

THE COMPANY STOPPED USING THE NICKNAME IN THE 1940S.

IT WENT OUT OF BUSINESS IN THE 1980S.

♪♪ THE OLD WEATHER BELL IS STILL AT CLARK AND MONROE.

THERE'S A WALGREENS THERE NOW, BUT THIS WAS ONCE BELL FEDERAL SAVINGS.

LIGHTS ON THE BELL USED TO REPORT THE WEATHER.

GREEN MEANT FAIR, YELLOW CHANGEABLE AND RED WAS FOR RAIN OR SNOW.

THE LIGHTS STILL WORK, BUT THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE.

IT WAS SUNNY ON THE DAY WE TOOK THESE PICTURES.

BELL FEDERAL BECAME PART OF LASALLE BANK IN THE 1990S.

THE TOP FLOOR OF THE ALLERTON HOTEL ON NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE ONCE HOUSED THE TIP TOP TAP, A SWANKY NIGHTCLUB.

IT CLOSED IN THE 1960S.

THE TOP OF THE ALLERTON BECAME SO FAMOUS THAT RADIO LEGEND DON MCNEILL BUILT A STUDIO UP THERE IN 1963 FOR HIS POPULAR NATIONAL RADIO SHOW "THE BREAKFAST CLUB."

>> (RADIO ANNOUNCER) THE DON MCNEILL SHOW CAME TO YOU FROM THE CLOUD'S ROOM A-TOP THE HOTEL ALLERTON IN CHICAGO.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE OWNERS OF THE UPSCALE CLARK STREET ALE HOUSE HAVE PRESERVED THE SIGN FROM THE NOT-SO-UPSCALE BAR THAT ONCE OCCUPIED THIS PROPERTY.

>> BACK IN THE TIME WHEN THIS WAS A VERY DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOOD.

BEFORE GENTRIFICATION, THIS WAS A STREET FULL OF SALOONS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE GREAT WRITER NELSON ALGREN, HE ACTUALLY WROTE ABOUT THIS BLOCK WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW, WHAT DID HE SAY ABOUT IT?

>> HE ONCE CHARACTERIZED SOMEONE WHO HAD A LITTLE TOO MUCH FONDNESS WITH THE BOTTLE BY THE FACT THAT HE NEVER LIVED MORE THEN HALF A BLOCK FROM THE 700 BLOCK OF NORTH CLARK STREET.

I THINK PEOPLE GET INTERESTED IN GHOST SIGNS BECAUSE THEY'RE THE CITY'S MEMORY, THEY'RE FRAGMENTS OF THE PAST THAT LINGER ON IN THE CITYSCAPE, THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR CITY, THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PAST OF YOUR CITY, THE RICHER YOUR EXPERIENCE OF THE PRESENT IS.

AS SOON AS YOU TUNE YOUR EYES TO SEE THEM, YOU SEE THEM EVERYWHERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE MOST FRAGILE GHOST SIGNS ARE THE HAND PAINTED ONES...

SOMETIMES REVEALED LIKE A TIME CAPSULE WHEN AN ADJACENT BUILDING IS TORN DOWN.

LIKE THIS ONE ON LINCOLN AVENUE IN CHICAGO'S LINCOLN SQUARE NEIGHBORHOOD.

UNLIKE TODAY'S SIGNS WHICH ARE USUALLY JUST PRINTED ON DISPOSABLE STRETCHED VINYL, THESE OLD ONES WERE MADE FROM LEAD-BASED PAINT.

THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THEY LIVE ON LONG PAST THEIR INTENDED LIFE.

>> THE LEAD PAINT RESISTS MOISTURE, AND SO THEY BECOME MORE VISIBLE DURING RAINY PERIODS.

OR WHEN THEY ARE HIT BY DIRECT SUN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) NICHOLE DONOHOE PHOTOGRAPHED HUNDREDS OF GHOST SIGNS ALL OVER CHICAGO AND CREATED AN ON-LINE CATALOG OF THEM FOR HER MASTERS DEGREE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION.

IN THE PROCESS SHE DEVELOPED A CERTAIN ADMIRATION FOR THE RUGGED SIGN PAINTERS WHO CALLED THEMSELVES WALL DOGS.

>> I DON'T KNOW, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S A VERY INDEPENDENT PERSON WHO LOVES HIS FREEDOM IT'S A HARD JOB, YOU KNOW.

THEY'RE OUTSIDE, THEY'RE EXPOSED TO ALL THE ELEMENTS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THOSE FREE SPIRITED WALL DOGS WERE JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING, BUT THEY'VE LEFT US WITH A RECORD OF HOW WE LIVED.

FOR EXAMPLE, THIS BARELY READABLE SIGN IN A LOOP ALLEY OFF WABASH STREET ADVERTISES THE HARMONY CAFETERIA.

CAFETERIAS WERE A NEW CONCEPT IN CHEAP EATS AROUND THE LATE 1800S.

THEY WERE ESPECIALLY POPULAR WITH WOMEN OFFICE WORKERS WHO COULDN'T EAT IN BARS LIKE THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS.

THE TERM CAFETERIA WAS ACTUALLY COINED IN CHICAGO.

A LITTLE FARTHER SOUTH ON WABASH A SIGN FOR LYON AND HEALY SURVIVES FROM THE DAYS WHEN THIS AREA WAS CALLED MUSIC ROW.

DOZENS OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COMPANIES HAD THEIR SHOWROOMS HERE.

PIANO MAKER W.W. KIMBALL, HAD A RECITAL HALL ON MUSIC ROW WHERE FAMOUS PIANISTS WOULD DEMONSTRATE KIMBALL'S FINE INSTRUMENTS.

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY NOW OWNS MOST OF THE BUILDINGS HERE.

CHICAGO ONCE HAD AFTERNOON NEWSPAPERS IN THE DAYS BEFORE THE INTERNET AND 24-HOUR CABLE CHANNELS.

THE NOW-DEFUNCT DAILY NEWS ADVERTISED TO ITS WORKING CLASS READERSHIP ALONG STREETCAR AND "L" LINES.

>> WHEN PEOPLE TOOK THE TRAIN OR THE STREETCAR TO AND FROM WORK, THERE WAS A MORNING PAPER AND AN AFTERNOON PAPER.

THE DAILY NEWS AS THE FIRST AFTERNOON PENNY PAPER SAW ITSELF AS THE CHAMPION OF THE POOR.

THE DAILY NEWS WAS A NEWSPAPER THAT HAD FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS BEFORE OTHER PAPERS DID.

IT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE BEST WRITER'S PAPERS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WRITERS LIKE BEN HECHT, CARL SANDBURG AND MIKE ROYKO APPEARED REGULARLY.

PROFESSOR SAVAGE SPOTTED ONE PARTICULAR DAILY NEWS SIGN THAT REALLY PUZZLED HIM AT FIRST.

BECAUSE IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE FROM THE STREET.

>> SO I'M GOING DOWN MILWAUKEE AVENUE, I SEE THIS SIGN AND I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW IT WOULD WORK BECAUSE THERE IS A TWO STORY AND A THREE STORY BUILDING, IT'S INVISIBLE FROM THE STREET.

SO I REALIZED THIS DAILY NEWS SIGN WAS NOT JUST A GHOST SIGN.

IT WAS A GHOST SIGN FOR A GHOST TRAIN.

THE "L" TRACKS THAT ONCE WOULD HAVE BEEN AT THE SECOND STORY LEVEL PROVIDING A PERFECT VIEW OF THIS SIGN TO ITS RIDERS, ARE NOW UNDERGROUND.

>> SOMETIMES GHOST SIGNS TELL US THINGS ABOUT OUR HISTORY THAT WE'RE NOT SO PROUD OF.

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS ONE SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN TWO BUILDINGS HERE ON IRVING PARK ROAD.

IT'S AN OLD AD FOR GOLD DUST DISHWASHING POWDER.

IT FEATURES TWO AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN RENDERED AS RACIST STEREOTYPES.

IT WAS PART OF A CAMPAIGN WITH SLOGANS LIKE "LET THE GOLD DUST TWINS DO YOUR WORK."

THE SIGN HAD BEEN BURIED BEHIND AN EARLIER BUILDING, BUT WHEN THAT OLD STRUCTURE WAS TORN DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW CONDOS, THE OLD AD WAS REVEALED.

AND NOT SURPRISINGLY LOTS OF PEOPLE WERE OFFENDED AND GLAD TO SEE A NEW BUILDING RETURN THE SIGN TO OBSCURITY.

OTHER SIGNS REMIND US OF EFFORTS TO COMBAT RACISM.

LIKE THIS ONE ON 95TH STREET.

THE BLACK-OWNED INDEPENDENCE BANK LENT MONEY TO AFRICAN AMERICANS IN AN ERA WHEN MANY LARGE BANKS WOULD NOT.

ONE OF INDEPENDENCE BANK'S FOUNDERS WAS THE GREAT AFRICAN AMERICAN ENTREPRENEUR GEORGE JOHNSON.

ON 79TH STREET YOU'LL FIND AN OLD AD FOR JOE LOUIS MILK.

THE GREAT BOXER GAVE AWAY LARGE SUMS OF MONEY AFTER HE RETIRED.

AND HE LOST THE REST OF HIS FORTUNE TO FAILED BUSINESS INVESTMENTS.

THIS UNINTENDED MEMORIAL TO HIM WILL EVENTUALLY DISAPPEAR TOO.

IN THE END, THE FLEETING NATURE OF THESE SIGNS IS PART OF THEIR APPEAL.

>> THEY WERE MEANT TO BE DISPOSABLE.

THEY WERE MEANT TO BE REPAINTED.

ONE CAN'T REMOVE THE SIGN AND PUT IT IN A MUSEUM.

THEY'RE SORT OF A MOMENTARY GIFT FOR PEOPLE TO LOOK AT.

♪♪ >> (GEOFFREY BAER) TRAFFIC PROBLEMS ARE NOTHING NEW IN CHICAGO.

THE CITY'S EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OVER THE YEARS INSPIRED ALL KINDS OF STREET IMPROVEMENTS.

INCLUDING SOME THAT ONLY EXIST ON PAPER.

I'M STANDING AT THE "CORNER" OF 111TH STREET AND JEFFREY BOULEVARD.

AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL CITY OF CHICAGO ATLAS, PUBLISHED BY THE CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SOME STREETS AROUND HERE.

THIS IS ONE OF MANY PLACES IN CHICAGO WHERE STREETS WERE MAPPED OUT, BUT NEVER ACTUALLY BUILT.

>> SUBDIVISION IN THE 1920S WAS REALLY GOING FULL BORE.

AND THEN THE DEPRESSION HIT AND THEY NEVER ACTUALLY SOLD THE LOTS, SO THEY NEVER BUILT THE STREETS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN SUBURBAN WESTCHESTER YOU'LL FIND A NATIVE PRAIRIE WITH SIDEWALKS.

THEY'RE LEFT OVER FROM A DEVELOPMENT THAT WENT BELLY UP BEFORE ANY HOMES WERE BUILT.

ELSEWHERE IN CHICAGO THE PRAIRIE BECAME PAVEMENT, BUT YOU CAN STILL FIND SOME BURIED BYWAYS FROM FRONTIER CHICAGO.

LIKE A COWPATH IN THE DOWNTOWN LOOP!

IT'S BEHIND THIS DOOR AT 100 W. MONROE.

THERE WERE NO COWS LIVING IN THE LOOP WHEN THIS BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1928, BUT THIS PASSAGEWAY WAS LEFT OPEN ANYWAY, BECAUSE THE DEED REQUIRED IT.

IT WAS PART OF A STRIP OF LAND THAT A FARMER NAMED WILLIAM JONES RETAINED FOR HIS USE WHEN HE SOLD THIS LAND IN 1840.

ACCORDING TO NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS JONES WANTED TO BE SURE HE STILL HAD A WAY TO WALK HIS COWS TO PASTURE.

A PLAQUE MARKING THE COWPATH DISAPPEARED YEARS AGO.

AND THERE ARE NO OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS PROVING THAT JONES EASEMENT REALLY WAS FOR A COW PATH.

BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP ORGANIZERS OF CHICAGO'S ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK EXPOSITION FROM MILKING THE IDEA FOR PUBLICITY.

THEY PERIODICALLY STARTLED OFFICE WORKERS BY BRINGING COWS TO THE BUILDING FOR PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES.

AS CHICAGO GREW FROM A COWTOWN TO A METROPOLIS, THE STREETS UNDERWENT MASSIVE CHANGE.

FOR ONE THING, THEY WERE RAISED UP OUT OF THE MUD.

>> SO, THEY BROUGHT IN A GUY FROM BOSTON NAMED ELLIS CHESBROUGH WHO WAS A MASTER ENGINEER AT THE TIME, AND THE ONLY WAY HE COULD FIGURE OUT TO HAVE GRAVITY DRAINED SEWERS IN CHICAGO WAS TO RAISE THE LEVEL OF THE STREETS SO THAT THEY COULD THEN DRAIN INTO THE RIVER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE BUILDINGS THEN HAD TO BE RAISED TO THE NEW LEVEL OF THE STREETS.

GEORGE PULLMAN MADE HIS FIRST FORTUNE RAISING CHICAGO BUILDINGS.

>> HE HAD SOME EXPERIENCE MOVING BUILDINGS FOR THE WIDENING OF THE ERIE CANAL IN NEW YORK STATE.

AND HE WOULD HIRE A WHOLE CREW OF WORKMAN WITH JACK-SCREWS AND HE WOULD BLOW A WHISTLE AND THEY WOULD ALL TURN THEIR JACK-SCREW A QUARTER TURN.

SO THEY WERE RAISING HOTELS AND BUSINESS BLOCKS, WHILE PEOPLE WERE GOING IN AND OUT OF THE BUILDING.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT IN LESS AFFLUENT NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE PILSEN AND BRIDGEPORT HOMEOWNERS COULDN'T AFFORD GEORGE PULLMAN OR ANYONE ELSE TO RAISE THEIR BUILDINGS.

SO THEY JUST MOVED THEIR ENTRANCES TO THE SECOND FLOOR AND THE FIRST FLOOR BECAME A BASEMENT.

ANOTHER EFFORT TO DEAL WITH THE QUAGMIRE OF CHICAGO WAS PAVING THE STREETS.

THIS ALLEY IN THE GOLD COAST IS ONE OF THE FEW SURVIVING EXAMPLES OF AN EARLY PAVING TECHNOLOGY.

NOW WOODEN BLOCKS MIGHT NOT BE THE FIRST THING YOU'D THINK OF IF YOU WERE GOING TO PAVE A STREET, BUT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THIS WAS STATE OF THE ART, AND THESE BLOCKS HAVE LASTED MORE THAN 100 YEARS.

>> BETWEEN THE CRACKS SOMETIMES, JUST THE WAY IT WORKED IS YOU'D STEP ON IT AND MUD WOULD SQUIRT IN YOUR FACE.

NOW WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT USING THE WOOD, IS WOOD WAS PLENTIFUL IN THIS AREA BECAUSE OF THE FORESTS OF MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN.

SO BY THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE OF 1871, THEY HAVE ABOUT 50 MILES OF STREETS THAT WERE PAVED, OF COURSE THE SIDEWALKS WERE WOOD.

THE BUILDINGS WERE WOOD.

BUT NOBODY FORESAW THAT THE STREETS WOULD BURN IF THEY WERE MADE OUT OF WOOD.

SO, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED, IS DURING THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE MANY OF THESE STREETS BURNED AS WELL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) A BETTER PAVING METHOD WASN'T DEVELOPED UNTIL AROUND 1900.

SO EVEN AFTER THE FIRE STREETS AND ALLEYS, INCLUDING THIS ONE, WERE STILL PAVED WITH WOOD BLOCKS.

PAVEMENT HELPED EARLY CHICAGOANS MOVE AROUND MORE EASILY.

BUT THEY STILL HAD TROUBLE FIGURING OUT EXACTLY WHERE THEY WERE.

IN SOME CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS YOU'LL FIND BUILDINGS WITH TWO ADDRESSSES.

ONE OF THOSE ADDRESSES IS A RELIC FROM BEFORE 1908 WHEN CHICAGO'S ENTIRE STREET NUMBERING SYSTEM WAS CHANGED.

THE NEED AROSE AFTER CHICAGO ANNEXED 125 SQUARE MILES OF SURROUNDING SUBURBS IN 1889 AND IN THE PROCESS ACQUIRED A HELTER-SKELTER ADDRESS SYSTEM AND ALSO MANY DUPLICATE STREET NAMES.

BUILDING SUPERINTENDENT EDWARD BRENNAN PICKED THE NOW FAMOUS CORNER OF STATE AND MADISON AS THE STARTING POINT FOR A NEW ORDERLY NUMBERING SYSTEM WITH 800 ADDRESSES TO THE MILE.

>> AND THEN HE DECIDES THAT EVEN IF A STREET IS DISCONTINUOUS THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH OF THE CITY, IT SHOULD HAVE THE SAME NAME, WHEREVER THAT'S PRACTICAL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ONE RENAMING SCHEME GAVE US THE ALPHABET STREETS WEST OF PULASKI.

THE NORTH-SOUTH STREET NAMES THERE START WITH THE LETTER "K" FOR THE FIRST MILE, THEN "L" FOR THE SECOND MILE, AND SO FORTH, UP THE LETTER TO "P" AT CHICAGO'S WESTERN EDGE.

THIS NAMING SCHEME WAS SUPPOSED TO START AT THE ILLINOIS/INDIANA BORDER WITH THE LETTER "A".

BUT LOCAL RESIDENTS IN THE FIRST ELEVEN MILES REJECTED IT.

SO THE SYSTEM STARTS ELEVEN MILES FROM THE BORDER WITH THE ELEVENTH LETTER OF THE ALPHABET, "K".

AS THE POPULATION EXPLODED, THE CITY'S RENAMED, RENUMBERED AND REPAVED STREETS WERE CLOGGED WITH TRAFFIC.

SO IN ANOTHER MASSIVE PROJECT, CHICAGO'S ARTERIAL STREETS WERE WIDENED.

>> AND THE WAY THAT THEY DID THIS WAS BY JUST CHOPPING OFF THE FRONTS OF BUILDINGS-- SOMETHING THAT TODAY JUST SEEMS UNIMAGINABLE.

ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THE PROPERTY OWNERS ALONG WESTERN AND FOR A MILE EITHER SIDE OF THEM WERE BEING ASSESSED TO PAY FOR THIS IMPROVEMENT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE WIDENING OF ASHLAND AVENUE LEFT A PARCEL OF PROPERTY JUST 11 FEET WIDE AT THE CORNER OF ASHLAND AND CHICAGO.

ONE ENTERPRISING BUSINESSMAN USES THE PROPERTY FOR WHAT MIGHT BE CHICAGO'S NARROWEST RESTAURANT.

LOOK AT THIS, I CAN TOUCH BOTH WALLS!

FURTHER NORTH THE WIDENING OF ASHLAND THREATENED OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH.

SO THE CONGREGATION MOVED THE MASSIVE BRICK EDIFICE ACROSS THE STREET!

FIFTY MEN, TWO TRACTORS AND SEVERAL TEAMS OF HORSES WERE USED TO MOVE THE 10,000-TON CHURCH.

ONCE ACROSS THE STREET IT WAS ROTATED 90 DEGREES TO FACE THE CROSS STREET.

AS LONG AS THEY WERE MOVING THE CHURCH THEY ALSO DECIDED TO CUT IT IN HALF AND ADD A 30-FOOT ADDITION TO THE MIDDLE-- INCREASING THE SEATING CAPACITY BY 300 PEOPLE.

THE AUDITORIUM BUILDING ONE OF ARCHITECT LOUIS SULLIVAN'S MASTERPIECES WAS MAIMED IN A STREET WIDENING PROJECT.

SEE THERE USED TO BE A SIDEWALK HERE.

BUT WHEN THEY WIDENED CONGRESS PARKWAY, THEY MOVED THE SIDEWALK INSIDE THE BUILDING.

A MAGNIFICENT SULLIVAN DESIGNED BAR WAS DESTROYED IN THE PROCESS.

DESPITE ALL THE NIPPING AND TUCKING WE'VE DONE TO CHICAGO STREETS OVER MORE THAN A CENTURY, THE OLD SAYING STILL HOLDS TRUE.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME.

COMING UP, LINCOLN PARK'S HIDDEN HISTORY.

IT WAS CHICAGO'S FIRST CEMETERY AND BODIES ARE STILL BURIED THERE!

A MYSTERIOUS BRIDGE TO NOWHERE WEST OF THE LOOP A DOORWAY INTO CHICAGO'S HISTORY AS THE SILENT MOVIE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

A DAZZLING COLLECTION OF MURALS NEWLY UNEARTHED FROM DECADES OF DIRT AND DAMAGE AND LATER, SURPRISING RELICS FROM THE WORLD'S FAIR OF 1893.

♪♪ THIS LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY ORDINARY PARKING LOT, BUT WHEN THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM STARTING BUILDING IT IN 1998 THEY FIRST HAD TO REMOVE DOZENS OF BURIED BODIES WITH THE HELP OF AN ARCHEOLOGIST.

THAT'S BECAUSE THE SITE OF THE GARAGE IN CHICAGO'S LINCOLN PARK WAS ONCE PART OF CHICAGO'S CITY CEMETERY.

THE CEMETERY WAS CLOSED IN THE 1860S.

AND ALL OF THE BODIES WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN MOVED TO OTHER CEMETERIES.

OFFICIALLY, ONLY ONE GRAVE REMAINS IN LINCOLN PARK.

IT'S THE TOMB OF IRA COUCH AN EARLY CHICAGO PIONEER, WHO BUILT THE FANCY TREMONT HOUSE HOTEL AND DIED A WEALTHY MAN.

THE TOMB WAS EITHER TOO HEAVY TO MOVE, OR THE COUCH FAMILY WANTED TOO MUCH COMPENSATION FROM THE CITY TO MOVE IT.

SO THE COUCH MAUSOLEUM IS THE ONLY GRAVE LEFT IN LINCOLN PARK?

>> THE ONLY VISIBLE GRAVE IS THE COUCH MAUSOLEUM.

THERE MAY BE THOUSANDS OF BODIES STILL LEFT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) HELEN SCLAIR CALLS HERSELF CHICAGO'S CEMETERY LADY.

SHE'S MADE A CAREER OF FINDING OUT WHERE CHICAGO'S BODIES ARE BURIED, AND SOME OF THOSE PLACES WILL REALLY SURPRISE YOU.

FOR EXAMPLE LONG BEFORE OUR FAMOUS WATER TOWER WAS BUILT IN 1869 THIS WAS THE SITE OF CHICAGO'S VERY FIRST TOWN CEMETERY.

NOW THERE CERTAINLY AREN'T ANY BODIES LEFT THERE >> OH, FOR PITY SAKES.

EVERY TIME THEY DIG A SEWER OR A STREET OR A BASEMENT OR ANYTHING THEY WANT TO DIG IN THAT PARTICULAR LAND... ALL OF THOSE FANCY STORES.

>> ON NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE?

>> YES!

ALL THE WAY UP TO THE DRAKE.

IT WAS THE FIRST FORMAL BURIAL SITE IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BY 1843 CHICAGO HAD GROWN FROM A FRONTIER TOWN INTO A CITY AND THE NEW CEMETERY OPENED NORTH OF NORTH AVENUE IN TODAY'S LINCOLN PARK.

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY BOUGHT JUST UNDER AN ACRE OF THAT LAND FOR THEIR USE.

AND A CATHOLIC CEMETERY WAS ESTABLISHED JUST SOUTH OF CITY CEMETERY.

SO THIS IS WHERE THE GOLD COAST IS TODAY?

>> OH, YES SIR.

AND ARE THERE BODIES THERE TODAY?

OH, YES SIR I'M PRETTY SURE YOU'RE GOING TO FIND A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF BODIES JUST LIKE AT DEAR OLD WATER TOWER.

>> THOUSANDS OF THOSE BURIED IN CITY CEMETERY WERE CONFEDERATE PRISONERS FROM THE CIVIL WAR.

THEY HAD DIED IN A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE, RIGHT ALONG THE LAKEFRONT AT 35TH STREET.

IT WAS CALLED CAMP DOUGLAS BECAUSE THE PROPERTY HAD BELONGED TO SENATOR STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS WHO WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S OPPONENT IN SERIES OF FAMOUS DEBATES IN 1858.

DOUGLAS DIED IN 1861 AND HIS PROPERTY BECAME A CIVIL WAR TRAINING CAMP.

LATER POWS WERE SHIPPED THERE VIA THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL, WHICH BORDERED THE PROPERTY.

DOUGLAS HIMSELF IS ENTOMBED UNDER A TOWERING COLUMN ON THE SITE TODAY.

BUT THE GROUND WAS TOO LOW AND WATERLOGGED TO BURY THE THOUSANDS OF CONFEDERATE PRISONERS WHO DIED IN MISERABLE CONDITIONS AT THE CAMP.

>> NOW IMAGINE CARRYING THOSE BODIES ACROSS THE CITY APPROXIMATELY SEVEN MILES ALL THE WAY TO CITY CEMETERY... >> (GEOFFREY BAER) UNFORTUNATELY, THE TOPOGRAPHY IN CITY CEMETERY, NOW LINCOLN PARK, WAS NOT MUCH BETTER.

AND SOME MOURNERS STARTED COMPLAINING.

>> IN CITY CEMETERY, DUE TO THE PROXIMITY TO THE SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN THEY COULD DIG ONLY TO A DEPTH OF THREE FEET AND THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT PLEASED THEM AT ALL.

>> WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH THAT?

>> BECAUSE ODORS FROM THE BODIES, IT WAS RATHER UNPLEASANT TO VISIT THE GRAVES.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN ADDITION, THE GROWING CITY WAS NOW ENCROACHING ON THE CEMETERY LAND.

>> IN 1858, A GENTLEMAN, DR. RAUCH, BEGAN PUBLICLY SPEAKING ABOUT VARYING WHERE PEOPLE LIVED.

THAT THIS WAS A HEALTH HAZARD.

THEY CALLED THEM MIASMAS WITH GREAT VAPORS THAT AROSE FROM ALL THIS MESS.

AND HE KEPT SCREAMING ABOUT THIS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE CATHOLICS SAW THE WRITING ON THE WALL AND STARTED REMOVING BODIES FROM THEIR CEMETERY.

THE CARDINAL'S STATELY MANSION NOW STANDS ON PART OF THE PROPERTY.

IT WAS COMPLETED IN 1880.

THAT WAS THE SAME YEAR THE ARCHDIOCESE SAID IT HAD FINISHED MOVING ALL THE BODIES TO CALVARY CEMETERY IN EVANSTON AND ST. BONIFACE IN CHICAGO.

BOTH WERE LOCATED ON HIGHER GROUND ALONG THE OLD GREEN BAY TRAIL.

THIS OLD INDIAN TRAIL, NOW CALLED CLARK STREET, FOLLOWED A RIDGE THAT IN PREHISTORIC TIMES WAS THE SHORE OF A MUCH LARGER LAKE MICHIGAN.

SO YOU NEED HIGH GROUND BASICALLY?

>> YES YOU DO, SO THAT WHEN YOU DIG THE GRAVE IT DOESN'T FILL UP IMMEDIATELY WITH WATER.

THAT IS VERY UNPLEASANT TO LOOK UPON IF YOU'RE GOING TO PUT YOUR LOVED ONE IN A BATHTUB OF WATER.

>> BUT THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN OF CITY CEMETERY WASN'T ITS LOW-LYING LOCATION.

IT WAS WHEN THE CHICAGO DISCOVERED IT DIDN'T OWN PART OF THE LAND, DUE TO A BOTCHED SALES CONTRACT.

IN 1866, A MASSIVE RELOCATION BEGAN TO MOVE ALL OF THE BODIES TO NEW CEMETERIES THAT HAD BEEN BUILT OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.

ONE OF THEM, GRACELAND IN THE LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD WAS BUILT ALONG THE SAME INDIAN TRAIL AS ST. BONIFACE AND CALVARY, GREEN BAY ROAD, NOW CALLED CLARK STREET.

MANY OF CHICAGO'S ELITE WERE LAID TO REST HERE INCLUDING MARSHALL FIELD, BERTHA AND POTTER PALMER AND GEORGE PULLMAN.

ALONG WITH MANY CHICAGO MAYORS AND ILLINOIS GOVERNORS.

YOU'LL ALSO FIND IMPORTANT ARCHITECTS LIKE DANIEL BURHAM AND MORE RECENTLY MIES VAN DER ROHE WHOSE STONE REFLECTS HIS MOTTO, "LESS IS MORE."

BUSINESS MAN, HENRY HARRISON GETTY COMMISSIONED THE GREAT ARCHITECT LOUIS SULLIVAN TO DESIGN THIS TOMB FOR HIS WIFE CARRIE.

SULLIVAN HIMSELF IS ALSO BURIED AT GRACELAND.

SULLIVAN'S PARTNER, DANKMAR ADLER WAS JEWISH.

HE'S BURIED IN MT.

MAYRIV CEMETERY BENEATH A COLUMN FROM A BUILDING HE DESIGNED-- THE CENTRAL MUSIC HALL.

THAT BUILDING WAS TORN DOWN THE YEAR ADLER DIED TO MAKE ROOM FOR MARSHALL FIELD'S STATE STREET STORE.

TODAY YOU CAN STILL SEE STONES AT MT.

MAYRIV THAT WERE MOVED HERE FROM THAT TINY JEWISH CEMETERY IN WHAT IS NOW LINCOLN PARK.

THEY'RE AMONG THE OLDEST IN THE CITY.

BUT THEY MADE ONE STOP ALONG THE WAY TO MT.

MAYRIV AT A SHORT-LIVED JEWISH CEMETERY AT CLARK AND BELMONT.

BY THE WAY, THE OTHER ENTRANCE COLUMN FROM DANKMAR ADLER'S CENTRAL MUSIC HALL IS AT ROSEHILL CEMETERY IN THE RAVENSWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD.

IT BELONGS TO THE MAN WHO PROCURED THE COLUMN FOR ADLER'S GRAVE.

HE KEPT THE OTHER ONE FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL USE.

LIKE MANY OF THE CEMETERIES THAT OPENED IN THE LATE 1800S, ROSEHILL WAS BUILT ALONG A RAIL LINE.

>> AND THERE WERE CARS ON STREETCARS AND RAILROAD TRAINS WHICH COULD HANDLE A BODY.

>> FUNERAL CARS?

>> FUNERAL CARS.

THEY WERE DESIGNED THIS WAY.

SO THAT THE BODY COULD BE SLID IN ON THE SIDE AND MOURNERS COULD TRAVEL IN THE SAME CAR.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ROSEHILL EVEN HAD AN ELEVATOR TO TAKE BODIES FROM THE TRAIN STATION WHICH WAS ABOVE GRADE, DOWN TO GROUND LEVEL.

LIKE GRACELAND, ROSEHILL HAS ITS SHARE OF CHICAGO MAYORS AND ILLINOIS GOVERNORS, AND EVEN CALVIN COOLIDGE'S VICE PRESIDENT, CHARLES GATES DAWES.

BUT ALL OF THEIR MONUMENTS ARE DWARFED BY THE TOWERING TOMBSTONE OF COLORFUL EARLY MAYOR LONG JOHN WENTWORTH.

HE SAID HE WANTED THE LOFTIEST TOMB IN THE WEST.

THERE'S ALSO A SECTION HERE FOR CIVIL WAR DEAD.

WHICH REMINDS US-- WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE CONFEDERATE POWS BURIED AT CITY CEMETERY?

THEY WERE MOVED TO A BURIAL MOUND IN OAK WOODS CEMETERY ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE.

A MONUMENT THERE LISTS MORE THAN 4,000 NAMES.

FACED WITH RELOCATING THOUSANDS OF BODIES FROM THE LAKEFRONT, THE CITY OF CHICAGO APPARENTLY DECIDED IT WAS THROUGH WITH CEMETERIES.

A LAW WAS PASSED IN 1866 SAYING THERE SHALL NEVER BE ANOTHER CEMETERY WITHIN THE CHICAGO CITY LIMITS.

BUT WHEN THE CITY ANNEXED 125 SQUARE MILES OF SURROUNDING LAND IN 1889 IT BECAME HOME TO CEMETERIES AGAIN...

EVEN IF YOU NEVER VISIT A CHICAGO CEMETERY, REMEMBER YOU'RE STILL TREADING ON HALLOWED GROUND WHENEVER YOU SHOP AT WATER TOWER PLACE OR JUST TAKE A STROLL IN LINCOLN PARK.

♪♪ THIS BOOKSTORE IN GLENVIEW HAS A LOT OF GREAT STORIES INSIDE, BUT ONE OF THE BEST STORIES IS ON THE ROOF.

THIS WAS ONCE THE CONTROL TOWER OF GLENVIEW NAVAL AIR STATION.

NAVY RECRUITS GOT THEIR PILOT TRAINING HERE.

ONE OF THEM WAS GEORGE BUSH SR. ♪♪ THE CONTROL TOWER IS EASY TO SPOT.

BUT SOME ARCHEOLOGICAL REMAINS REQUIRE A LITTLE MORE DIGGING TO DISCOVER.

LIKE HERE AT MEYER'S ACE HARDWARE ON 35TH ST.

THIS WAS ONCE A JAZZ CLUB CALLED THE SUNSET CAFÉ.

IT OPENED IN 1921.

GO UP A HALF-FLIGHT OF STAIRS TO THE MANAGER'S OFFICE AND YOU'RE STANDING ON THE OLD STAGE.

BEHIND THE CLUTTER IS A MURAL THAT ONCE SERVED AS THE BACKDROP FOR JAZZ GREATS LIKE LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND EARL "FATHA" HINES.

>> AND IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE WE HAD THESE GUYS FROM GERMANY COME TO PLAY AND YOU WERE IN MY OFFICE, HOW SMALL IT IS.

FIFTEEN GERMANS CLIMB IN THERE WITH THEIR INSTRUMENTS 'CAUSE THEY HAVE TO PLAY INSIDE.

THEY HAVE TO BE ON STAGE.

GOT TO BE THERE.

♪♪ >> (GEOFFREY BAER) ACTUALLY THERE WERE EIGHT OF THEM.

THEY'RE THE JAZZ O'MANIACS AND CHICAGO'S DELMARK RECORDS RECORDED THEIR VISIT FOR POSTERITY.

TURNS OUT HARD CORE JAZZ FANS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD HAVE MADE PILGRIMAGES HERE.

WHAT'S THEIR REACTION, WHAT'S THEIR RESPONSE WHEN THEY COME HERE?

>> OH, THEY LOVE IT.

THEY COME TO TOUCH THE WALL.

ONE OF THE GERMANS THAT CAME TO THE STORE WAS HUGGING ONE OF THE POLES LIKE THIS.

SO I SAID TO THE HEAD OF THE, THE TROUPE HE'S ALMOST SPOKE ENGLISH.

I SAID "WHAT IS HE DOING?"

HE SAID, "HE'S FEELING THE JAZZ."

I SAID, "HE'S FEELING THE JAZZ?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) LOUIS ARMSTRONG EVEN WROTE A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO THE CLUB.

♪♪ THE SUNSET CAFÉ WAS IN THE HEART OF A VIBRANT NEIGHBORHOOD OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ENTERPRISE CALLED BRONZEVILLE.

>> IT WAS A FANTASTIC PLACE.

THIS WAS A COMMERCIAL STRIP THAT WAS A VERY PROFITABLE COMMERCIAL STRIP.

BARBER SHOPS, HABERDASHERIES, RESTAURANTS, CABARETS, CAFES... >> THIS IS GOING TO BLOW YOU AWAY... >> (GEOFFREY BAER) IN 1937 THE CLUB CHANGED HANDS AND BECAME THE GRAND TERRACE.

DAVID MEYERS RECENTLY UNEARTHED A RELIC FROM THAT ERA.

LOOK AT THAT: "THE GRAND TERRACE PRESENTS RUDY'S GRIER'S AUTUMN FOLLIES."

WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS?

>> WE FOUND IT UPSTAIRS WHEN WE WERE CLEANING UPSTAIRS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MANY OF THE JAZZ FANS WHO VISIT SHOP THE HARDWARE STORE FOR A SPECIAL SOUVENIR.

THAT LOOKS LIKE A GOOD ONE.

GOOD.

THANKS... WE'LL SEE HOW THIS WORKS.

HOLD THAT.

LET'S GIVE IT A TRY.

♪♪ I'LL TAKE IT.

>> THANK YOU.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE RELICS AT MEYERS HARDWARE STORE ARE FRAGILE.

BUT ELSEWHERE SOUVENIRS OF THE PAST ARE ETCHED IN STONE.

LIKE THIS ONE ON A FORMER MEETING HALL.

ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE.

THIS AREA WAS ONCE POPULAR WITH CHICAGO'S BELGIAN IMMIGRANTS.

>> YOU COULD BUY YOUR FOOD HERE THAT WAS BELGIAN, GO TO SALOON, THERE'S A BELGIAN FUNERAL HOME AROUND THE CORNER.

IT WAS FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE-- YOU COULD BE A BELGIAN, IF YOU WANTED TO.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT WHY PROCLAIM THAT ALL BELGIANS ARE EQUAL?

WELL, IT HAS TO DO WITH DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FRENCH AND FLEMISH SPEAKING BELGIANS.

>> THE FLEMISH ALWAYS FELT LIKE THEY WERE SECONDARY CITIZENS.

I THINK WHEN THEY CAME TO THE UNITED STATES THEY DECIDED WE WERE GOING TO BE EQUAL BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY CAME FOR.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT'S NOT JUST ETHNIC GROUPS THAT LEAVE THEIR MARK AFTER MOVING ON.

BUSINESSES DO TO.

THIS STRIP OF SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE WAS MOTOR ROW-- HOME TO CHICAGO'S FIRST CAR DEALERSHIPS AT THE DAWN OF THE AUTOMOBILE AGE.

WITH CAR TRAVEL CAME A NEW KIND OF LODGING, MOTELS.

AND IN THE DAYS BEFORE SUPERHIGHWAYS, LINCOLN AVENUE WAS THE MAIN ROUTE INTO DOWNTOWN FOR INTERCITY TRAVELERS COMING FROM THE NORTH.

A DWINDLING NUMBER MOTELS SURVIVE HERE, BUILT FOR MOTORISTS WHO WANTED TO SPEND A NIGHT ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE BIG CITY.

BUT THEIR GLORY HAS LONG SINCE FADED.

♪♪ THERE ARE ALSO MASSIVE CHUNKS OF ORPHANED INFRASTRUCTURE, LIKE THIS BRIDGE TO NOWHERE ON THE NEAR WEST SIDE.

SO WHAT THE HECK IS THIS THING?

>> WELL, THIS IS A BRIDGE.

IT USED TO BE A PART OF THE METROPOLITAN ELEVATED RAILWAY SYSTEM.

THAT WAS A SYSTEM THAT BLANKETED THE WEST SIDE.

>> SO THIS WAS AN EARLY EL TRAIN?

>> THIS WAS THE 3RD EL TO BE BUILT IN THE CITY.

IT OPENED IN 1895.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS BEAUTIFUL PRAIRIE STYLE ELECTRICAL SUBSTATION POWERED THE TRAIN LINE.

THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THIS ANYMORE!

SO AT ONE TIME WE HAD A MUCH LARGER "L" SYSTEM, RIGHT?

>> YES.

WE HAD QUITE A BIT OF A LARGER SYSTEM.

FOR EXAMPLE, AT ONE POINT, THERE WERE 226 STATIONS ON THE EL SYSTEM AND TODAY THERE'S ONLY ABOUT 145.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WOW!

ONE STATION FROM CHICAGO'S FIRST "L" LINE IS STILL STANDING AT GARFIELD BOULEVARD ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

>> WELL, THAT STATION HOUSE IS THE OLDEST MASS TRANSIT STATION THAT IS STILL STANDING IN THE CITY, PERHAPS IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-- IT WAS BUILT IN 1892 AS PART OF THAT VERY FIRST EL LINE THAT WE HAD THAT TOOK PEOPLE FROM CITY DOWN TO THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION AND IT OPERATED ALL THE WAY UNTIL 2001 WHEN IT WAS PUT OUT OF SERVICE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MOST DEFUNCT "L" LINES HAVE BEEN TORN DOWN.

BUT ALMOST ALL OF THE OLD KENWOOD BRANCH IS STILL STANDING EVEN THOUGH IT SHUT DOWN MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO.

IT WAS PART OF A SYSTEM THAT TRANSPORTED PEOPLE AND FREIGHT TO AND FROM THE UNION STOCKYARDS.

THE STATIONS WERE NOTHING FANCY.

THERE WERE SIX OF THEM ALONG THE LINE AS IT SNAKED ITS WAY THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD ALL THE WAY TO THE LAKE FRONT.

YOU CAN STILL SEE SOME OF THE OLD STATION ENTRANCES.

AND HERE'S ANOTHER OF THOSE WONDERFUL PRAIRIE STYLE ELECTRICAL SUBSTATIONS.

IT'S HARD TO IGNORE A GIANT CONCRETE RAILROAD EMBANKMENT.

BUT TINY FRAGMENTS CAN ALSO TELL BIG STORIES.

THIS LITTLE INSIGNIA ON A LOFT CONDO BUILDING NEAR IRVING AND WESTERN IS THE ONLY CLUE THAT THIS WAS CHICAGO'S FIRST MOVIE STUDIO.

IT WAS CALLED SELIG POLYSCOPE.

>> AT THE HEIGHT OF THE 1910S, ONE OUT OF EVERY FIVE MOVIES IN THE WORLD WAS PRODUCED IN CHICAGO.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE STUDIO AND BACKLOT HERE WERE RUN BY COLONEL WILLIAM SELIG, WHO HAD DEVELOPED A WAY TO SHOOT MOVIES AND PROJECT THEM ON WALLS AND SCREENS IN THE LATE 1800S.

>> IT GREW INTO A MAJOR STUDIO.

SELIG HAD HIS OWN MENAGERIE THERE, WITH ANIMALS THERE.

LIONS AND ZEBRAS, HE HAD TIGERS, AND HE DID HAVE A POLAR BEAR.

>> THIS WAS FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

>> THIS WAS FOR SHOOTING FILMS THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE IN LIKE JUNGLES FOR EXAMPLE.

WESTERN'S HE NEEDED HORSES.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) SELIG MADE THE FIRST FILM VERSION OF "THE WIZARD OF OZ" LONG BEFORE JUDY GARLAND WAS EVEN BORN.

>> (ARNIE BERNSTEIN) L. FRANK BAUM, WAS ONE OF SELIG'S WRITERS, HE HAD WRITTEN THE "WIZARD OF OZ" HERE IN CHICAGO, AT THE FINE ARTS BUILDING, SO SELIG HIRED HIS AS A WRITER, THEN THEY MADE THE FIRST "WIZARD OF OZ" FILM HERE AT IRVING AND WESTERN AVENUE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE DECORATIVE ENTRANCE TO ANOTHER SILENT FILM STUDIO ALSO SURVIVES.

TODAY, THIS BUILDING IS HOME TO ST. AUGUSTINE COLLEGE IN CHICAGO'S UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD.

BUT THIS WAS ONCE ESSANAY STUDIOS FAMOUS FOR ITS STABLE OF STARS INCLUDING CHARLIE CHAPLIN.

ESSANAY WAS FOUNDED BY AMERICA'S FIRST COWBOY MOVIE STAR, BRONCO BILLY ANDERSON WHEN HE LEFT SELIG STUDIO AND JOINED FORCES WITH BUSINESSMAN GEORGE K. SPOOR.

>> AND THEIR INITIALS FORMED THE NAMED OF THE STUDIO, ES AND AY, THEY BASICALLY HAD A FACTORY FOR MAKING FILMS, THEY PUMPED THEM OUT LIKE SAUSAGES.

THEIR FIRST STAR WAS BEN TURPIN, THE CROSS EYES COMIC, GLORIA SWANSON STARTED OUT AT SNA AS A EXTRA.

THEIR MOST FAMOUS STAR, OF COURSE, WAS CHARLIE CHAPLIN, HE MADE ONE FILM HERE IN CHICAGO CALLED, "HIS NEW JOB."

HE AND SPOOR DID NOT GET ALONG AND HE DEMANDED THAT THE REST OF HIS CONTRACT BE FULFILLED OUT IN ESSENAY'S CALIFORNIA STUDIO.

FRANCIS X. BUSHMAN, WHO WAS SORT OF THE JOHNNY DEPP OF HIS TIME... BUSHMAN, HAD A HUGE FOLLOWING, HE COULD NOT SHOP AT MARSHALL FIELDS WITHOUT A THOUSAND GIRLS PURSUING HIM.

EVENTUALLY, THE PEOPLE AT MARSHAL FIELDS SAID PLEASE DON'T SHOP HERE ANYMORE.

HE HAD TO SEND PEOPLE TO SHOP FOR HIM.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE STUDIO WHERE ALL THESE STARS WORKED IS STILL THERE.

THE COLLEGE USES IT AS A CLASSROOM AND AUDITORIUM.

AND IN THE BASEMENT YOU'LL STILL FIND A VAULT WHERE VOLATILE MOVIE FILM WAS STORED.

>> THE BEAUTY OF HAVING THOSE AROUND, IS THAT IT SHOWS CHICAGO ITS PAST.

I'M A FIRM BELIEVER THAT CITIES ARE KIND OF LIVING BREATHING EVOLVING THINGS, AND THESE LANDMARKS ARE ALL TRACES OF WHAT OUR CITY HAS BEEN AND WHAT IT'S BECOME SINCE.

♪♪ >> A FEW YEARS AGO I SAW A PLAY HERE AT PULASKI PARK FIELD HOUSE.

ON CHICAGO'S NEAR NORTHWEST SIDE.

I REMEMBER A LOT ABOUT THE PLAY, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THOSE GORGEOUS MURALS THAT FRAME THE STAGE.

THAT'S BECAUSE BACK THEN, THEY WERE SO COVERED WITH DIRT YOU COULD HARDLY SEE THEM.

BUT IN 2007, THESE MURALS WERE COMPLETELY RESTORED.

THIS IS PART OF A DECADES-LONG EFFORT IN THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND ELSEWHERE, TO BRING BACK HUNDREDS OF HISTORIC MURALS THAT HAD BEEN LONG NEGLECTED.

IN THIS STORY, I'LL SHOW YOU SOME OF THE BEST MURALS AND TELL YOU SOME OF THE BEST STORIES BEHIND THEM.

♪♪ [BELL RINGING] STUDENTS AT LUCY FLOWER HIGH SCHOOL ON CHICAGO'S WEST SIDE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE A FIELD TRIP TO VIEW A GREAT WORK OF ART.

THEY HAVE ONE RIGHT IN THEIR OWN BUILDING.

BUT GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS NEVER SAW IT.

BECAUSE IT WAS WHITEWASHED IN 1941, JUST A YEAR AFTER IT WAS COMPLETED.

>> I THOUGHT ABOUT THE ARTIST A LOT, YOU KNOW EDWARD MILLMAN-- IT TOOK HIM TWO YEARS, FROM 1938 TO 40, FOR JUST THIS LOCATION.

AND THEN SOMEONE JUST WIPES IT OUT, HOW DO YOU THINK HE MUST HAVE FELT?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) HEATHER BECKER'S COMPANY HAS SPENT THE LAST DECADE CONSERVING MURALS IN CHICAGO'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

THIS ONE WAS A REAL CHALLENGE, BECAUSE IT'S A FRESCO.

>> A FRESCO IS A MURAL THAT IS PAINTED DIRECTLY ON THE WALL OF WET PLASTER, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO THE SISTINE CHAPEL.

THERE REALLY WASN'T ANY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT REMOVING LAYERS ON A FRESCO LIKE THIS, I MEAN, WE WERE REALLY MOVING IN AN UNCHARTED TERRITORY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) IT TOOK NINE MONTHS AND $32,000 TO UNEARTH THE MURAL IN 1997.

BUT, WHY WAS IT PAINTED OVER IN THE FIRST PLACE?

>> A LOT OF PEOPLE HEARD THAT THIS MURAL WAS DEPRESSING.

I THINK THE MOST DIFFICULT ISSUES IN THIS IMAGE, OF COURSE, ARE WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN'S RIGHTS.

IT HAS JANE ADAMS AND THE INEQUITIES OF PUBLIC HOUSING-- THE IMAGE OF WOMEN'S FIGHT FOR PEACE AND THE ISSUES OF WAR AND VIOLENCE-- I THINK IT WAS JUST PERCEIVED AS TOO SERIOUS AND I THINK THAT'S UNFORTUNATE.

THAT'S WHERE THE POWER OF ART COMES FROM!

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ARTIST EDWARD MILLMAN WAS CLEARLY INSPIRED BY MURALIST DIEGO RIVERA WHOM HE STUDIED WITH IN MEXICO.

MEXICAN MURALS OFTEN MAKE POWERFUL POLITICAL STATEMENTS.

BEFORE CREATING THE ILL-FATED FRESCO AT LUCY FLOWER HIGH SCHOOL, MILLMAN MADE THIS ONE AT CITY HALL.

THE WATER DEPARTMENT COMMISSIONED IT AS A WAY OF PROMOTING THE HEALING AND REFRESHING POWER OF WATER.

BUT TRUE TO FORM, MILLMAN ALSO SHOWS THE MISERY OF DROUGHT AND THIRST.

CONSERVING A FRESCO REQUIRES WORKING ON SITE.

BUT MANY MURALS ARE PAINTED ON CANVAS, AND THEY CAN BE REMOVED FOR PRESERVATION.

WE WENT TO THE CHICAGO CONSERVATION CENTER TO GET A LOOK AT THE PROCESS.

THIS MURAL CALLED PAGAN PARADISE BY JOHN WARNER NORTON WAS BROUGHT HERE FROM THE TAVERN CLUB DOWNTOWN AFTER THE CLUB LOST ITS LEASE.

AS THE CONSERVATORS BEGAN TO WORK ON IT, THEY MADE A SURPRISING DISCOVERY.

NORTON ACTUALLY CHANGED THE COMPOSITION OF THE PAINTING, HE PAINTED SOMETHING AND PAINTED OVER IT?

>> WELL, IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, THERE WAS THIS SECTION WHERE THERE WAS A DEFINITE LIFTING THAT WAS OCCURRING BETWEEN THE TWO PAINT LAYERS.

>> SO, SOME PAINT CHIPS WERE COMING OFF?

>> YES.

>> NOW SHE'S ACTUALLY, GLUING THOSE PIECES THAT HAVE FALLEN OFF, BACK ON?

>> SHE'S LITERALLY INJECTING GLUE, UNDERNEATH THE PIGMENT, AND CAREFULLY LAYING THE PIGMENT BACK DOWN TO THE SURFACE TO SECURE IT.

>> NORTON WOULD BE PRETTY AMAZED.

>> WELL, I THINK HE WOULD.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) JOHN WARNER NORTON, WHO PAINTED THIS MURAL HELPED TO MAKE CHICAGO THE MURAL CAPITAL OF AMERICA.

>> HE REALLY STARTED A MURAL MOVEMENT IN CHICAGO, AROUND 1910.

HE BECAME A TEACHER AT THE ART INSTITUTE AND HE STAYED THERE UNTIL 1929.

I THINK HE HAD A REAL PERMANENT AFFECT ON WHAT WAS COMING OUT OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, BECAUSE HE TAUGHT SO MANY OF THOSE STUDENTS FROM THE SCHOOL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THANKS IN PART TO NORTON, CHICAGO WAS READY WHEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STARTED A WPA PROGRAM TO PUT ARTISTS TO WORK MAKING MURALS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

WHAT'S RIGHT HERE BEHIND YOU?

>> THIS IS ACTUALLY A SERIES FROM THE CHICAGO POST OFFICE BY CHARLES TURZAK.

>> THE MAIN POST OFFICE?

>> THE MAIN POST OFFICE.

AND IT WAS 1938... > IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S BEEN COVERED UP WITH PAINT.

>> YES, IT'S BEEN WHITEWASHED MANY, MANY TIMES.

SO THESE THINGS HAPPEN, BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO SAVE THEM WHEN THEY KEY MOMENT OCCURS.

OTHERWISE THEY ARE GONE.

IT HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF A TREASURE HUNT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) A TREASURE HUNT INDEED.

IN THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS ALONE, BECKER AND HER TEAM HAVE FOUND MORE THAN 400 MURALS.

LIKE THIS ONE AT ARMSTRONG SCHOOL IN ROGERS PARK.

DECADES OF DIRT WERE CLEANED OFF TO REVEAL IS DELIGHTFUL SIGHT.

>> IT'S FABULOUS, IT'S ABOUT FAIRIES, HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE IT?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE ARTIST MARION MAHONY GRIFFIN WORKED FOR FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS.

HE NEVER GAVE HER CREDIT, BUT SHE DREW MANY OF HIS FAMOUS ARCHITECTURAL RENDERINGS.

LATER SHE MARRIED THE NOTED PRAIRIE STYLE ARCHITECT WALTER BURLEY GRIFFIN.

THEY MOVED TO AUSTRALIA WHERE HER DRAWINGS HELPED HIM WIN THE COMMISSION TO DESIGN THE CAPITAL CITY OF CANBERRA.

AFTER HIS DEATH SHE CAME HOME.

AT AGE 65 SHE GOT THE COMMISSION TO PAINT THIS MURAL THROUGH HER SISTER WHO WAS A TEACHER AT ARMSTRONG SCHOOL.

>> HERE IS THIS OBVIOUSLY VERY TALENTED WOMAN, WORKING IN THE ARCHITECTURAL WORLD AND SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMEN TO GET AN ARCHITECTURAL LICENSE.

AND YET, SHE REALLY DIDN'T HAVE A NAME OR GET RECOGNIZED, UNDER THE SHADOW OF WRIGHT AND GRIFFIN.

UNFORTUNATELY, BUT I THINK NOW, OF COURSE, MUCH LATER, SHE IS BEING RECOGNIZED FOR THE TALENT THAT SHE WAS.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WPA ARTISTS WERE GIVEN A LOT OF CREATIVE FREEDOM.

RUDOLPH WEISENBORN USED THIS COMMISSION AT NETTLEHORST SCHOOL IN THE LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD TO EXPERIMENT WITH MODERNISM.

>> HE REALLY TRIED TO START THE AVANT-GARDE MOVEMENT HERE IN CHICAGO SO MUCH OF THE OTHER WPA ART THAT YOU SEE IS FAIRLY REALISTIC, CLASSICAL, ILLUSTRATIVE-- WISENBORN JUST PUT A SPIN ON IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) CHICAGO'S ASTONISHING COLLECTION OF MURALS GOES FAR BEYOND THE SCHOOLS.

THEY'RE IN PARK DISTRICT FIELD HOUSES, AND OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS LIKE THE WABASH AVENUE YMCA ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

HERE IN THE BALLROOM, NOW USED FOR DAY CARE, A MURAL BY WILLIAM EDUARD SCOTT CELEBRATES GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.

THIS LANDMARK BUILDING WAS USED FOR HOUSING AND JOB TRAINING BY SOUTHERN BLACKS ARRIVING IN CHICAGO DURING THE GREAT MIGRATION OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.

THE IDEA FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH WAS FIRST PROPOSED HERE IN THE 1920S.

THE BUILDING SAT ABANDONED FOR MANY YEARS AND THESE MURALS SUFFERED BADLY.

>> (HEATHER BECKER) IT WAS SO BAD, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT THEY WERE BEYOND THE POINT OF RESTORATION.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) TODAY, UNDER NEW OWNERS THE MURALS HAVE BEEN RESTORED AND THE BUILDING IS ONCE AGAIN A THRIVING COMMUNITY CENTER.

AND THERE ARE MURALS IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS TOO.

LIKE THESE AT THE MERCHANDISE MART SHOWING COMMERCE FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

THEY'RE FROM THE PERIOD BEFORE THE WPA KNOWN AS THE PROGRESSIVE ERA.

THE ARTIST JULES GUERIN, IS BEST KNOWN FOR ILLUSTRATING DANIEL BURNHAM'S IDEALISTIC PLAN OF CHICAGO FROM 1909.

WE GO BACK TO THE SCHOOLS FOR ONE LAST STORY.

THESE MURALS AT SAWYER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ON THE SOUTHWEST SIDE WEREN'T IN PARTICULARLY BAD SHAPE, BUT THE PROJECT HERE GAVE THE PRESERVATIONISTS ONE OF THE BIGGEST THRILLS OF THEIR CAREER.

>> WE WERE IN THE CONSERVATION CENTER ONE DAY AND THIS CLIENT WALKED IN, AND SHE HAPPENED TO MENTION THAT HER MOTHER WAS A WPA MURALIST.

AND SO AND WE WERE LIKE, "WHO?

WHAT'S HER NAME?"

AND SHE SAID, "LUCILE WARD."

AND WE ALL JUST WERE IN TOTAL SHOCK.

AND WE SAID, "WE ARE ACTUALLY WORKING ON HER MURALS AT SAWYER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL."

AND SHE SAID, "AND, SHE'S STILL ALIVE."

SO WE TOOK THE TIME OF MAKING THE RIGHT MOMENT FOR HER, BECAUSE SHE WAS ALREADY IN HER NINETIES BY THEN.

AND SHE WALKED IN AND IT WAS DEAD SILENCE.

HER EYES JUST SORT OF SPARKLED AND SHE SAID-- >> HOW BEAUTIFUL THEY ARE.

I HAVE TO COMPLEMENT MYSELF.

>> YOU KNOW, IT WAS ONE OF THOSE RARE MOMENTS WHERE YOU ACTUALLY JUST GET TO SEE SOMEONE REALLY ENJOY THEIR LIFE AND HER CAREER AND SHE WAS LOOKING BACK AT IT.

AND IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS THAT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WHEN "HIDDEN CHICAGO" CONTINUES, WE'LL SEARCH OUT TRACES OF THE GREAT WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION OF 1893.

WE'LL MEET CHICAGO'S LAST ELEVATOR OPERATORS, AND PINSETTERS.

AND VISIT CHICAGO'S ODDEST AND MOST INTERESTING MONUMENTS INCLUDING A STOREFRONT THAT MELTED IN THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE.

>> (ANNOUNCER) ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS PROVIDED THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF PETER KELLIHER, JR. AND DIANE KELLIHER.

AND THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION, IN MEMORY OF ALYCE DECOSTA.

♪♪ YOU'RE ABOUT TO HEAR A SOUND, THAT DEPENDING ON YOUR AGE, WILL EITHER BRING BACK A RUSH OF MEMORIES OR IT WILL BE TOTALLY UNFAMILIAR TO YOU.

READY?

OKAY, LISTEN CAREFULLY.

[BELL RINGING] CAN YOU IDENTIFY THAT SOUND?

THE CORNER GARAGE HERE IN ROUND LAKE ILLINOIS IS ONE OF THE LAST PLACES YOU'LL HERE THAT IT.

IN THE DAYS BEFORE SELF-SERVE, EVERY GAS STATION HAD A BELL LIKE THAT, TRIGGERED BY A CAR RUNNING OVER AN AIR HOSE.

IT SIGNALED THE ATTENDANT TO HUSTLE ON OUT OF THE GARAGE AND FILL UP A CUSTOMER'S TANK.

MOST GAS STATIONS SWITCHED TO SELF-SERVICE IN THE 1970S AND 80S.

>> CAN I HELP YOU?

>> FILL UP PLEASE.

>> OKEEDOKE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) BUT AT THE CORNER GARAGE, LARRY SURLETA IS STILL PUMPING GAS THE OLD FASHIONED WAY.

>> NORMALLY FILL-UPS, WASH WINDOWS, CHECK OIL IF THEY WANT IT.

IF THEY NEED THEIR TIRES CHECKED, WE'LL HELP THEM WITH THAT.

I THINK WE LIKE THE NEIGHBORHOOD, FAMILY TYPE BUSINESS AND A LOT OF PEOPLE APPRECIATE IT.. >> (GEOFFREY BAER) LARRY BOUGHT THE STATION AROUND 1980 WITH HIS FATHER WHO HAS SINCE PASSED AWAY.

EVEN AS GAS PRICES ARE HITTING ALL-TIME HIGHS LARRY'S CUSTOMERS ARE WILLING TO PAY A LITTLE EXTRA.

SOME APPRECIATE THE SERVICE, FOR OTHERS, IT'S THE MEMORIES.

>> ONE THING THAT THIS STATION IS STILL MISSING THAT WAS TRADITIONAL, AROUND HERE ANYWAY, WAS YOU ALWAYS HAD THE GAS STATION, THEY ALWAYS HAD THE DOGS.

SO YOU'D GO IN, YOU'D PLAY WITH THE DOG, YOU'D BRING THEM A TREAT, YOU'D CATCH UP ON THE LATEST NEWS, AND IT WAS MUCH MORE OF A SENSE OF COMMUNITY BACK THEN THAN IT IS NOW, AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES THIS KIND OF NICE FOR ME AND A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WITH OUR TANK TOPPED OFF, WE DECIDED TO DO A LITTLE TIME TRAVELING AROUND THE CHICAGO AREA AND FIND SOME OTHER PLACES WHERE THE PAST LIVES ON.

IN CHICAGO'S LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD WE FOUND THE REGION'S LAST BOWLING ALLEY, WHERE THE PINS ARE SET UP BY PEOPLE INSTEAD OF MACHINES.

AND HERE AT SOUTHPORT LANES, THEY CAN HELP YOUR GAME... FOR A PRICE.

>> THE WAY TO TIP THESE GUYS AND IT'S ALMOST MANDATORY THAT YOU TIP THEM, IS YOU TAKE DOLLAR BILLS, OR ANY KIND OF BILLS, CRINKLE THEM UP AND STICK THEM IN THE FINGER HOLES OF THE BALL, AND ROLL IT DOWN THE ALLEY OR THE GUTTER.

>> ALRIGHT.

LET'S SEE IF I CAN IMPROVE MY SCORE A LITTLE BIT.

IT'S ONLY A DOLLAR, BUT MAYBE IT WILL HELP.

ALL RIGHT!!!

IF IT SOUNDS A LITTLE DANGEROUS TO STAND AT THE END OF A LANE WITH 16-POUND BALLS BEING HURLED IN YOUR DIRECTION, YOU'RE RIGHT.

IT IS.

ARE THEY WEARING LIKE APRONS?

>> THEY DO.

IT HELPS THE CUSTOMER TO SEE THEM DOWN THE LANES.

>> OH, SO YOU CAN SEE THEM.

>> WHENEVER YOU SEE LEGS IN YOUR LANE, DO NOT BOWL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ACCORDING TO BOWLING COMPANY AMF, TEN PIN BOWLING BECAME POPULAR IN 1841 AS SORT OF A LEGAL LOOPHOLE.

THE EUROPEAN GAME OF NINE PINS HAD BEEN OUTLAWED IN CONNECTICUT BECAUSE IT ATTRACTED TOO MANY GAMBLERS.

BOWLERS GOT AROUND THE LAW BY ADDING ANOTHER PIN.

CHICAGO PLAYS A PART IN BOWLING HISTORY.

THE FIRST NATIONAL TOURNAMENT WAS HELD HERE IN 1901.

BUT THE LOW PAID PIN BOYS WERE A LIABILITY.

THEY HAD A REPUTATION FOR BEING UNDEPENDABLE AND DOWNRIGHT ORNERY.

IT WASN'T UNTIL 1952 THAT A RELIABLE ENOUGH MACHINE WAS DEVELOPED TO START REPLACING THE PINBOYS.

TV MADE THE SPORT WILDLY POPULAR IN THE 1950S.

[CHEERING] ON THE NIGHT WE VISITED SOUTHPORT LANES THE PINSETTERS SHOWED A LITTLE OF THE IRASCIBLE PERSONALITY THAT THEIR ANCESTORS WERE FAMOUS FOR.

>> HE STOLE A STRIKE FROM ME EARLIER.

>> WHAT DID HE DO?

>> WELL, HE GRABBED A TEN-PIN AND HE PICKED IT UP AS MY BALL WAS COMING DOWN THE ALLEY.

AND THEN HE PUT IT DOWN AFTER ALL THE PINS WERE DOWN.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, HE STOLE A SPARE TOO.

MAYBE THIS BOWLER'S OPPONENT WAS A BETTER TIPPER.

>> WATCH YOUR STEP, PLEASE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) NEXT, WE VISITED THE FINE ARTS BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO WHERE THE ELEVATORS ARE OPERATED NOT BY PUSH BUTTONS, BUT BY PROFESSIONALS.

THIS IS THE LAST MAJOR DOWNTOWN BUILDING WITH A STAFF OF ELEVATOR OPERATORS.

>> HI, HOW ARE YOU?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND THE DEAN OF THEM ALL IS A CAMERA-SHY IRISH IMMIGRANT NAMED TOMMY DURKIN.

>> JANUARY, 1950, I CAME TO THE BUILDING, AND I NEVER LEFT THE BUILDING.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) HE IS SUCH A FIXTURE THAT THE ELEVATOR LOBBY IS NAMED FOR HIM.

OPERATORS LIKE TOMMY AND JOSEPH MAREK WHO STARTED IN 1987 ARE A GOOD FIT FOR THE FINE ARTS BUILDING'S QUIRKY ARRAY OF TENANTS AND VISITORS INCLUDING VIOLIN MAKERS, VISUAL ARTISTS, DANCERS AND ARCHITECTS.

IS HE A LITTLE SHY?

>> HE'S SCARED OF WHEN THEN ELEVATOR STOPS.

BECAUSE SOMETIMES JOSEPH IS A LITTLE BIT BOUNCY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ELEVATORS HELPED MAKE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS POSSIBLE IN THE 1800S.

BUT FIRST PEOPLE HAD TO BE CONVINCED THAT THEY WERE SAFE.

SO ELISHA GRAVES OTIS INVENTED A SAFETY BRAKE AND WITH THE HELP OF P. T. BARNUM HE STAGED A HAIR-RAISING DEMONSTRATION OF IT AT THE NEW YORK'S WORLD'S FAIR OF 1853.

ONCE AN HOUR HE WAS HOISTED UP INTO THE AIR AND AMID GASPS FROM THE CROWD THE ROPE HOLDING THE ELEVATOR WAS CUT.

THE ELEVATOR FELL JUST A FEW INCHES AND STOPPED.

THESE ELEVATORS AT THE FINE ARTS BUILDING ARE POWERED BY ELECTRICITY.

AN IMPROVEMENT OVER EARLIER STEAM DRIVEN ELEVATORS, BUT THE VINTAGE ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY HERE MADE IT A LITTLE HARD FOR ME TO INTERVIEW THE BUILDING'S MANAGER.

>> LET'S GO REAL SLOW.

>> GO SLOW AND JUST UP AND DOWN WITHOUT STOPPING AT THE FLOORS.

>> OKAY, BUT I ONLY GOT ONE SPEED... >> ONLY ONE SPEED...

SO WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THE ELEVATOR OPERATORS?

>> I THINK THEY LIKE THE FACT THAT WHENEVER YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING THAT'S GOING ON IN THE BUILDING-- JUST ASK THOSE GUYS, THEY KNOW EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) OTIS INSTALLED THEIR FIRST OPERATOR-LESS ELEVATOR IN A DALLAS OFFICE TOWER IN 1950, THE SAME YEAR TOMMY DURKIN CAME TO WORK AT THE FINE ARTS BUILDING.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR ELEVATOR OPERATORS.

A FEW BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE FINE ARTS BUILDING AT THE MONADNOCK BUILDING WE FOUND SIGN PAINTER DAVE MYZDLO OF H.M. WHIT AND COMPANY.

HE'S KEEPING ALIVE THE NEARLY LOST ART OF HAND LETTERING.

HOW LONG BEEN DOING THIS?

>> THIRTY-THREE YEARS.

>> HOW'D GET INTERESTED IN DOING THIS?

>> MY DAD WAS A SIGN PAINTER AND I JUST HAVE AN ARTISTIC ABILITY.

AND WHEN I GOT TO A CERTAIN AGE I WOULD HELP HIM OUT-- DAYS OFF OF SCHOOL AND IN THE SUMMER.

LIKE HIM, I STARTED OUT WITH BIG LETTERS AND EVENTUALLY SMALLER.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) DAVE'S SPECIALTY IS WORKING WITH GOLD LEAF.

SOMETIMES LAID ON TOP OF A LAYER OF CLEAR VARNISH THAT HE APPLIES TO GIVE THE SIGN A BEVELED APPEARANCE AS IF IT WERE CUT INTO THE GLASS.

HE SAYS MODERN DAY ADHESIVE SIGNS PRINTED ON VINYL JUST CAN'T CAPTURE THAT LOOK.

BUT TO DO THIS WORK CORRECTLY YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE.

YOU JUST RUBBED THAT ON YOUR HAIR-- WHY DID YOU RUB THAT ON YOUR HAIR?

>> TO PICK UP STATIC...

LEAF IS SO THIN, THAT IF YOU DIDN'T IT WOULD JUST DISSOLVE IN YOUR HAND.

>> YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE A STEADY HAND TO DO THIS!

>> AND A LITTLE PATIENCE.

>> DO YOU HAVE GOOD HANDWRITING WHEN YOU WRITE A LETTER?

>> NO, MY HANDWRITING IS TERRIBLE.

>> IS THAT RIGHT?

>> YES, I PRINT AN AWFUL LOT.

>> DID YOU EVER MISSPELL A SIGN?

>> OH YES, I'M HUMAN, I'M NOT PERFECT.

IT'S USUALLY NAMES.

OKAY, AFTER GILDING TECHNIQUE, AFTER IT'S ALL FINISHED GILDING AND DRIED JUST TAKE SOME CLEAN COTTON AND BURNISH OFF THE EXCESS.

>> AND BURNISHING MEANS?

>> SHINE IT UP, WIPE IT OFF.

>> LOOK AT HOW SHINNY THAT GETS.

SO, IF I CAN CATCH ALL THESE FLAKES OF GOLD FALLING THROUGH THE AIR, CAN I KEEP THEM?

>> YOU CAN.

THEY'LL DISSOLVE IN YOUR HAND, BUT THEY'RE YOURS.

>> IS YOUR DAD STILL AROUND?

>> YES HE IS, YES HE IS.

HE DOESN'T PAINT ANY MORE.

>> IS HE PROUD OF YOU?

>> OH, VERY.

I THINK WHEN I SAID I WAS GOING TO BE A SIGN PAINTER AND BECAME AN APPRENTICE, IT WAS A VERY PROUD DAY FOR HIM.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) DAVE AND THE OTHERS WE'VE MET IN THIS STORY MIGHT BE ENDANGERED SPECIES.

BUT THEY'RE SURVIVING THANKS TO A SMALL, LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE AND A BIG SENSE OF PRIDE.

>> THEY WAY I LOOK AT IT IS, THERE'S ARTISTS THAT WORK AND WANT THEIR STUFF TO BE SEEN IN A GALLERY.

WELL, THE WHOLE DOWNTOWN AREA OF CHICAGO IS MY GALLERY AND SO FOR ME THAT'S SOMETHING SPECIAL.

♪♪ >> (GEOFFREY BAER) THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CROSS THE MICHIGAN AVENUE BRIDGE EVERY DAY WITHOUT REALIZING THEY'RE AT ONE OF CHICAGO'S MOST HISTORIC SITES.

ALL THEY NEED TO DO IS LOOK DOWN.

HAVE ANY OF YOU EVER HEARD OF FORT DEARBORN?

>> YES.

>> WHERE WAS IT?

>> WHERE WAS IT?

>> YEAH.

LOOK DOWN.

>> RIGHT THERE... HEY!

>> OH, OKAY, I GUESS IT WAS RIGHT HERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) WHEN THE FORT WAS BUILT IN 1803 CHICAGO WAS JUST A TINY TRADING POST ON THE EDGE OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER.

FORT DEARBORN STOOD ACROSS THE RIVER FROM A HOME BUILT BY CHICAGO'S FIRST SETTLER, JEAN BAPTISTE POINTE DUSABLE.

DUSABLE WAS OF AFRICAN DESCENT.

BUT A PLAQUE ERECTED IN 1937 TO MARK THIS IMPORTANT HOME SITE, ONLY MENTIONS DUSABLE IN PASSING, AND MOSTLY HONORS THE WHITE SETTLER JOHN KINZIE AND HIS FAMILY WHO LATER LIVED IN THE HOUSE.

ABOUT 50 YEARS AFTER THAT FIRST PLAQUE WAS ERECTED A NEW PLAQUE WAS PUT HERE MORE ACCURATELY DESCRIBING THIS AS THE HOME SITE OF JEAN BAPTISTE POINTE DUSABLE.

SORT OF SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT.

CHICAGO'S HISTORY IS TOLD IN MARKERS AND MONUMENTS ALL OVER TOWN.

IF ONLY WE'D STOP TO TAKE A LOOK.

THIS ONE IDENTIFIES A LITTLE WOOD FRAME COTTAGE NEAR LINCOLN PARK ZOO THAT SUPPOSEDLY SURVIVED THE CHICAGO FIRE!

IT BELONGED TO A POLICEMAN NAMED RICHARD BELLINGER WHO MADE A BRAVE CHOICE AS THE FIRE APPROACHED.

HIS NEIGHBORS WERE FLEEING IN TERROR.

BUT BELLINGER DECIDED TO MAKE A STAND.

HE GRABBED BLANKETS AND RUGS, CLIMBED A LADDER AND THREW THEM ON THE ROOF.

THEN HE KEPT THE RUGS WET WITH WATER HE GOT FROM A DITCH ACROSS THE STREET.

PROBABLY THE MOST OBSCURE MONUMENT TO THE GREAT FIRE RESTS IN SOME SHRUBS BEHIND THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM.

IT'S THE MELTED REMAINS OF A HARDWARE STORE THAT STOOD AT STATE AND RANDOLPH.

HERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLAZA BEHIND THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM IS AN ARTIFACT THAT'S EVEN OLDER.

THIS ONE DATES FROM THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

THESE ARE HAND-FORGED IRON LINKS FROM A 1500 FOOT-LONG CHAIN THAT WAS STRETCHED ACROSS THE HUDSON RIVER IN 1778.

GEORGE WASHINGTON HIMSELF ORDERED IT BUILT TO PREVENT BRITISH SHIPS FROM SAILING UP THE RIVER.

IT WAS PROUDLY PARADED AROUND CHICAGO.

BUT THERE'S ONE PROBLEM.

THIS RELIC IS A FAKE.

>> IT'S PART OF THIS LARGER GROUP OF QUESTIONABLE ARTIFACTS THAT THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM RECEIVED IN 1920 FROM A LOCAL COLLECTOR CHARLES GUNTHER, WHO'S NOW KIND OF A LOCAL LEGEND.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE MUSEUM EVEN HAS AN EXHIBIT OF ITS FAVORITE PHONEYS, INCLUDING THIS BOX, WHICH SUPPOSEDLY CONTAINS TEA USED IN THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.

AND WHICH IS CONNECTED TO ANOTHER OFTEN OVERLOOKED CHICAGO MONUMENT.

>> NOT FAR FROM US IN LINCOLN PARK, JUST NORTH OF HERE IS THE FAMOUS DAVID KENNISON BOULDER.

DAVID KENNISON WAS A GENTLEMAN WHO CLAIMED THAT HE WAS THE LAST SURVIVING PARTICIPANT IN THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.

WHEN HE CAME TO THE CITY, HE CLAIMED TO HAVE AROUND HIS NECK IN A VIAL, TEA LEAVES FROM THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) A GENEALOGIST LATER DETERMINED THAT KENNISON WAS ONLY SIX OR SEVEN YEARS OLD WHEN THE BOSTON TEA PARTY TOOK PLACE.

SOME MARKERS HELP US GET ORIENTED.

SURVEYORS ERECTED THIS OBELISK IN 1833 TO MARK THE BORDER BETWEEN ILLINOIS AND INDIANA.

THE LAKEFRONT WAS A WILDERNESS BACK THEN.

TODAY THE MONUMENT IS SURROUNDED BY HEAVY INDUSTRY.

THE LAKEFRONT ITSELF WAS FARTHER INLAND THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.

MARKERS LIKE THIS ONE IN LINCOLN PARK SHOW THE RIDGE THAT WAS A SHORELINE AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE.

OTHER MARKERS TEACH US ABOUT GREAT EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY.

THIS ONE MARKS THE STARTING LINE FOR AMERICA'S FIRST AUTO RACE!

SEVEN CARS LEFT JACKSON PARK IN THE SNOW ON THANKSGIVING DAY 1895 FOR A RACE TO EVANSTON AND BACK.

ONLY TWO CARS FINISHED.

THE WINNER, FRANK DURYEA COMPLETED THE COURSE IN ABOUT EIGHT HOURS, AVERAGING 7.3 MILES PER HOUR.

THIS BOULDER IN WASHINGTON PARK MARKS THE SPOT WHERE A TREE ONCE STOOD.

NOT JUST ANY TREE.

IT WAS AN ELM TREE THAT ULYSSES S. GRANT PLANTED IN 1879.

A PARK COMMISSIONER DECLARED, "WE WILL ALL REMEMBER "THAT THIS TREE WAS PLANTED "WITH THE SAME HAND "THAT STEMMED THE TIDE OF CIVIL WAR."

IT'S A GOOD THING THE BOULDER IS THERE BECAUSE THE TREE WAS CUT DOWN IN 1938.

GIVEN AMERICA'S PATRIOTIC FERVOR DURING WWII, IT'S INCREDIBLE THAT THIS MONUMENT SURVIVES.

IT WAS GIVEN TO THE CITY BY BENITO MUSSOLINI!

IT'S AN ACTUAL ROMAN COLUMN SOME 2,000 YEARS OLD THAT STANDS BEHIND SOLDIER FIELD ON THE SITE OF THE 1933 WORLD'S FAIR.

IT COMMEMORATES THE ARRIVAL THERE OF A SQUADRON OF 24 ITALIAN SEAPLANES UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERAL ITALO BALBO.

"WHICH FLEW ACROSS THE OCEAN IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF THE FASCIST ERA."

THIS MONUMENT IN MARQUETTE PARK COMMEMORATES A DIFFERENT TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT ALSO IN 1933.

THAT ONE ENDED TRAGICALLY.

THE PILOTS WERE LITHUANIAN AMERICANS, STEPONAS DARIUS AND STASYS GIRENAS.

THEY DECIDED TO TRY TO TOP CHARLES LINDBERG'S ACHIEVEMENT BY FLYING NON-STOP FROM AMERICA TO LITHUANIA.

>> IN LITHUANIA, ESPECIALLY THE YOUTH, THE SCHOOLS, THEY WERE WALKING TWO, THREE FEET OFF THE GROUND WAITING FOR THEM.

>> NOW, YOU WERE THERE... >> I WAS IN SCHOOL.

EVERYBODY WAITED HOLDING THEIR BREATHS.

INCLUDING ME.

TOO BAD.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THE AVIATORS BEAT LINDBERGH'S DISTANCE RECORD.

BUT AFTER TRAVELING NEARLY 4,000 MILES, THEY WERE KILLED WHEN THEY CRASHED IN GERMANY JUST 400 HUNDRED MILES SHORT OF THEIR DESTINATION.

TODAY THEY'RE FEATURED ON LITHUANIAN MONEY.

AND IF YOU LOOK VERY CLOSELY AT DARIUS'S HAT YOU'LL SEE AN INSIGNIA FOR PALWAUKEE AIRPORT IN THE CHICAGO SUBURB OF WHEELING.

SOME MONUMENTS HAVE ATTRACTED A LITTLE TOO MUCH ATTENTION.

THIS STATUE HONORS THE SEVEN POLICEMEN KILLED IN THE HAYMARKET RIOT OF 1886.

THE STATUE ONCE STOOD AT THE SITE OF THE RIOT NEAR RANDOLPH STREET WEST OF THE LOOP.

BUT IT WAS BOMBED TWICE AND EVENTUALLY WAS MOVED TO CHICAGO POLICE HEADQUARTERS.

THE HAYMARKET RIOT DIVIDED THE CITY.

IT STARTED WHEN A DYNAMITE BOMB WAS THROWN WHILE POLICE WERE TRYING TO BREAK UP A PEACEFUL LABOR RALLY.

NO ONE KNOWS WHO THREW THE BOMB, BUT EIGHT LABOR ACTIVISTS WHO WEREN'T EVEN AT THE SCENE WERE TRIED, AND FOUR OF THEM WERE HANGED.

A NEW MONUMENT WAS ERECTED AT THE SITE IN 2004.

IT MEMORIALIZES THE WORKERS WHO DIED AS WELL AS THE POLICE.

ANOTHER MONUMENT TO LABOR STRUGGLES IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED.

THIS WEATHERED LITTLE PLAQUE ON THE BASE OF A FLAG POLE AT A FORMER UNION HALL ON CHICAGO'S SOUTHEAST SIDE HONORS THOSE KILLED IN THE REPUBLIC STEEL MASSACRE OF 1937.

IN THAT INCIDENT, POLICE OPENED FIRE ON A CROWD OF PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS SUPPORTING STRIKERS AT THE REPUBLIC STEEL PLANT.

TEN DEMONSTRATORS WERE KILLED AND MANY POLICE AND PROTESTERS WERE INJURED.

THE PLANT CLOSED IN 2001.

THIS SCULPTURE ON THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CAMPUS MARKS THE EXACT SPOT WHERE PHYSICISTS WORKING ON THE SUPER SECRET MANHATTAN PROJECT FIRST SPLIT THE ATOM IN 1942.

THEIR MAKESHIFT NUCLEAR REACTOR-- THE WORLD'S FIRST-- WAS UNDERNEATH THE GRANDSTANDS OF THE FOOTBALL STADIUM THAT ONCE STOOD HERE.

THE MONUMENT CALLED "NUCLEAR ENERGY" BY HENRY MOORE WAS DEDICATED 25 YEARS AFTER THE EVENT.

THERE ARE EVEN MARKERS TO RECENT HISTORY.

LIKE THIS ONE SHOWING WHERE HOME PLATE STOOD AT THE OLD COMISKY PARK BEFORE IT WAS TORN IN 1990 AND REPLACED WITH A PARKING LOT FOR THE NEW U.S. CELLULAR FIELD.

[CHEERING] NOW WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF MARKERS COMMEMORATING A LOT OF THINGS IN THIS STORY, BUT MAYBE MY FAVORITE ONE IS HERE IN CHICAGO'S LINCOLN SQUARE NEIGHBORHOOD.

"ON THIS SITE IN 1897 NOTHING HAPPENED."

♪♪ IN 2003, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WERE DIGGING HERE IN JACKSON PARK ON THE SOUTH SIDE, WHEN THEY UNEARTHED WHAT LOOKED LIKE PIECES OF A STATUE.

>> IT HAD A LADY'S FACE ON IT.

PART OF IT WAS LIKE THE BOTTOM OF A LADY'S BODY WITH FLOWING GOWN.

SOME ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS.

WHAT WAS IT?

>> WELL, WHAT WAS IT?

>> WELL, ACTUALLY IT WAS THIS HUGE CONCRETE SCULPTURE FROM THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

IT ACTUALLY GOT KNOCKED OVER WHEN THEY WERE REMAKING THIS INTO A PARK, BURIED FOR YEARS, CAME OUT INTACT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO, JACKSON PARK WAS THE SITE OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, COMMEMORATING THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF COLUMBUS'S VOYAGE TO AMERICA.

THERE WAS AN ENTIRE CITY WITHIN A CITY HERE, PACKED WITH MASSIVE WHITE NEOCLASSICAL BUILDINGS.

>> THE OLD ARTS PALACE WAS OVER THERE, THE FISHERIES BUILDING WOULD BE OVER THERE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND YET LOOKING AROUND THE PARK TODAY, YOU'D HARDLY KNOW THAT A WORLD'S FAIR EVER TOOK PLACE HERE.

>> THIS WOULD BE SOME OF THE BUILDINGS FOR THE COURT OF HONOR.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ON A COLD DECEMBER DAY, I CAME HERE WITH TIM SAMUELSON TO SEE WHAT EVIDENCE OF THE FAIR WE COULD FIND.

SO, TIM THE OLDEST BUILDING IN THE PARK, ANOTHER RELIC OF THE FAIR, IS A... BATHROOM?

>> YOU BET IT IS, I MEAN THIS ACTUALLY WAS SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SEEN, AND WOULD HAVE USED!

>> USED!

>> AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

>> NOW WE'RE ACTUALLY WALKING ON AN ISLAND THAT IS ITSELF A RELIC OF THE FAIR RIGHT?

>> YEAH, THIS IS WOODED ISLAND.

ACTUALLY, IT WASN'T ORIGINALLY AN ISLAND.

IT WAS THIS KIND OF NATURAL DUNE-LIKE PROJECTION THAT ACTUALLY THEY CARVED AROUND IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THIS WAS HANDIWORK OF THE FAIR'S LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED-- THE SAME GUY WHO DESIGNED NEW YORK'S CENTRAL PARK.

HE SET OUT TO MAKE THIS ISLAND A NATURAL RESPITE FROM THE ARTIFICIAL GRANDEUR OF THE REST OF THE FAIR.

>> TREES AND GRASSES AND QUIET.

IN FACT, IT WAS SO LUSH THAT YOU WOULDN'T EVEN SEE NECESSARILY, THE FAIR AROUND YOU.

>> AND THE IDEA HERE IS THAT YOU WOULD BE IN THIS SORT OF WOODED NATURAL SETTING BUT THEN, AS YOU TURN THE CORNER, SOME GREAT BUILDING WOULD BE REVEALED.

>> YEAH.

NOT ONLY THE BUILDING, BUT THE WATER AROUND IT WITH SHIMMERING REFLECTION IN THE WATER.

IT'S ALMOST VERY WONDERFULLY ORCHESTRATED KIND OF EVENT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) NEAR LAKE SHORE DRIVE YOU'LL FIND THIS ONE RATHER RUN-DOWN LOOKING STREETLIGHT.

ITS BASE IS LEFT HERE FROM THE FAIR.

NEARLY 100,000 OF THESE STREETLIGHTS ILLUMINATED THE FAIRGROUNDS AT NIGHT.

IT MUST HAVE ASTONISHED FAIRGOERS, BECAUSE IN 1893 ELECTRIC STREET LIGHTS WERE STILL A NOVELTY.

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER LIGHTS LEFT FROM THE FAIR THAT HAVE BEEN MOVED SOUTH TO THE BEVERLY NEIGHBORHOOD, WHERE THEY'RE STILL IN USE.

SO THIS BEAUTIFUL OLD RAILING IS A RELIC OF THE FAIR?

THIS BRIDGE HOLDS A COUPLE OF LITTLE KNOWN SECRETS.

>> THIS WAS AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION... >> RIGHT HERE, THIS THING.

>> YEAH, BUT IT WASN'T HERE.

IT'S ACTUALLY A RECYCLE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE, SO PIECES GOT MOVED AROUND ALL OVER.

>> SO UNDERNEATH THE BRIDGE ARE SOME REAL OLD RELICS, HUH?

>> SURE.

BUT ACTUALLY THIS IS REALLY OLDER THAN THE FAIR.

>> AND HERE'S THIS LOW WALL THAT KIND OF CURVES AROUND UNDER THE BRIDGE.

>> KIND OF LIKE A LITTLE NICE HANDRAIL GOING ACROSS.

SO YOU'RE REALLY RETRACING THE STEPS OF PEOPLE WHO WERE SEEING THE FAIR YEARS AGO.

AND THEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN... >> WOW!

WELL, THIS IS THE BIGGEST LIVING RELIC OF THE FAIR, RIGHT?

TODAY, IT'S THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

BUT DURING THE FAIR, THIS WAS THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS, FILLED WITH MANY OF THE WORLD'S GREAT ARTISTIC TREASURES.

WHAT'S NOW THE BACK DOOR OF THE BUILDING WAS ACTUALLY THE FRONT ENTRANCE AT THE FAIR.

VISITORS ARRIVED HERE BY WATER ON GONDOLAS PILOTED BY REAL ITALIAN GONDOLIERS.

>> HERE WAS THIS MAJESTIC CLASSICAL PRESENCE RIGHT IN YOUR FACE.

BUT IT'S NOW THE BACK DOOR, AND IT'S KIND OF SAD, BECAUSE THIS IS THE WAY THE BUILDING IS REALLY MEANT TO BE SEEN, BUT PEOPLE RARELY COME TO SEE IT.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) THERE'S A REASON WHY THIS BUILDING SURVIVED, WHILE SO MANY OTHERS WERE LOST.

IT WAS MEANT TO HOUSE PRECIOUS WORKS OF ART, THIS WAS STURDILY CONSTRUCTED USING FIREPROOF MATERIALS.

MOST OF THE FAIR'S OTHER BUILDINGS WERE TEMPORARY STRUCTURES CLAD IN A KIND OF PLASTER.

MANY WERE WIPED OUT RIGHT AFTER THE FAIR IN A SERIES OF FIRES.

OTHERS WERE DISMANTLED AND SOLD FOR SCRAP.

AFTER THE FAIR, THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS BECAME THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE FIELD MUSEUM, WHICH WAS FOUNDED TO PRESERVE EXHIBITS FROM THE FAIR.

THEN AFTER THE CURRENT FIELD MUSEUM OPENED IN 1921, SEARS ROEBUCK CHAIRMAN JULIUS ROSENWALD PUT UP THE MONEY TO CONVERT THE OLD PALACE INTO A NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM.

NOT FAR FROM THE MUSEUM, THIS WIDE BOULEVARD CUTS THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CAMPUS.

THIS MARKS THE LOCATION OF THE FAIR'S MIDWAY PLAISANCE, AN OUTDOOR MUSEUM OF SORTS THAT SHOWCASED CULTURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

MOST OF THE MIDWAY IS SURROUNDED BY THIS ORDERLY ROW OF TREES, BUT HERE OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, THERE'S ONE BIG TREE THAT'S OUT IN THE MIDDLE, SORT OF DOING ITS OWN THING.

NOW, WE DON'T KNOW FOR SURE, BUT THERE'S EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT THIS TREE WAS PART OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN EXHIBIT AT THE FAIR.

NATIVE AMERICANS LIVED HERE DURING THE FAIR, ALONGSIDE VARIOUS OTHER NATIVE PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD, WHO WERE ESSENTIALLY ON DISPLAY IN RECREATIONS OF THEIR DWELLINGS.

THE TREE IS AN OAK, WHICH WAS AN IMPORTANT FOOD SOURCE FOR MANY PLAINS INDIANS.

I'M SKATING ON TOP OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF ONE OF THE FAIR'S BIGGEST ATTRACTIONS.

WHEN WORKERS WERE MAKING THIS ICE RINK ON THE MIDWAY A FEW YEARS AGO, THEY RAN ACROSS SOMETHING HARD, BURIED JUST BELOW THE SURFACE.

IT TURNS OUT IT WAS THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD'S FIRST FERRIS WHEEL.

GEORGE W. FERRIS DESIGNED THE RIDE AS A SPECTACLE THAT WOULD RIVAL THE EIFFEL TOWER, WHICH HAD BEEN BUILT FOR THE PARIS EXPOSITION FOUR YEARS EARLIER.

HIS WHEEL WAS 264 FEET HIGH, THAT'S ALMOST TWICE AS BIG AS THE ONE AT NAVY PIER.

THERE WAS ONE WORLD'S FAIR BUILDING CONSTRUCTED OUTSIDE THE FAIRGROUNDS.

TODAY IT'S THE ART INSTITUTE.

BUT THIS WAS BUILT AS THE WORLD'S CONGRESS AUXILIARY, WHERE GREAT THINKERS OF THE WORLD CAME TOGETHER TO DISCUSS EVERYTHING FROM RELIGION, TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

THE FAMOUS LIONS OUT FRONT WERE CRAFTED BY THE RENOWNED SCULPTOR EDWARD KEMEYS.

HE DESIGNED MANY SCULPTURES FOR THE FAIR.

AND IN FACT ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HIS WORK FROM THE FAIR SURVIVES IN HUMBOLDT PARK ON THE WEST SIDE.

IN GARFIELD PARK YOU CAN CHECK OUT ANOTHER SET OF SCULPTURES DESIGNED FOR THE FAIR.

BEHIND THE CONSERVATORY ARE THESE WORKS BY DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH.

ONCE YOU START LOOKING, YOU FIND THESE BITS AND PIECES OF THE WORLD'S FAIR ALL OVER CHICAGO.

A FENCE FROM THE FAIR NOW STANDS IN FRONT OF THE KENT HOUSE ON SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE.

AND AN ORGAN FROM THE GERMAN BUILDING AT THE FAIR IS INSIDE QUINN CHAPEL ON SOUTH WABASH.

THIS PIECE OF THE FAIR IS DISGUISED BY THE ARTWORK OF FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES AT THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

THE CANADIAN COPPER COMPANY DISPLAYED THIS TWO TON ROCK AT THE FAIR, WHICH IS SAID TO CONTAIN NICKEL, AND A VALUABLE QUANTITY OF GOLD.

MOST OF THE BOULDER WAS REPORTEDLY BURIED UNDERGROUND AS A STUDENT PRANK IN THE 1960S.

THE REST IS NOW BURIED UNDER COUNTLESS LAYERS OF PAINT.

HERE ALONG 63RD STREET, THIS LONELY OLD COLUMN IS ALL THAT'S LEFT OF A BRANCH OF THE L THAT WAS BUILT TO CARRY PEOPLE TO THE FAIR.

THIS WAS PART OF CHICAGO'S FIRST L LINE, WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS THE GREEN LINE.

IT STARTED RUNNING IN 1892, AND WAS THEN EXTENDED SOUTHEAST TO JACKSON PARK FOR THE FAIR.

BACK THEN, THEY USED STEAM LOCOMOTIVES.

BUT ONCE PASSENGERS GOT TO THE FAIRGROUNDS, THEY COULD TRANSFER TO THE INTRAMURAL LINE, WHICH USED A NEW HIGH-TECH KIND OF LOCOMOTIVE POWERED BY ELECTRICITY RUNNING THROUGH A THIRD RAIL.

SO YOU HAVE A PIECE OF THE FAIR, RIGHT IN YOUR YARD?

>> YES, WE DO.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MARK SMYLIE IS THE PROUD OWNER OF THIS TICKET BOOTH FROM THE FAIR.

IT SITS NEXT TO HIS FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT-DESIGNED HOME IN OAK PARK.

SO I'M STANDING RIGHT WHERE, PEOPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN LINING UP FOR THE FAIR, RIGHT HERE.

THE TICKET BOOTH WAS MOVED HERE AFTER THE FAIR AS A PLAYHOUSE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS.

FOR MANY YEARS, IT EVEN SERVED AS A GARDEN SHED.

>> AND PROBABLY THE MONEY AND THE TICKETS WOULD BE PASSED THROUGH THE CENTER WINDOW.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) MARK IS IN THE PROCESS OF RESTORING IT TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION.

>> BUT WE THINK IT COULD BE CLEANED UP PRETTY WELL.

>> THERE MAY BE ANOTHER RELIC OF THE FAIR IN OAK PARK.

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.

BEHIND AN APARTMENT BUILDING HERE ON LAKE STREET IS AN OLD STORAGE SHED, THAT MANY PEOPLE THINK WAS A CONCESSION STAND AT THE FAIR.

THERE'S NOT A LOT OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE CLAIM.

BUT LOOKING AT A PHOTO OF THE CONCESSION STANDS AT THE FAIR...

THERE IS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE.

ONE OF THE LARGEST SURVIVING ARTIFACTS FROM THE FAIR SITS IN A PARK IN GENEVA, ILLINOIS.

A NORWEGIAN SEA CAPTAIN SAILED THIS BOAT ALL OF THE WAY FROM NORWAY TO CHICAGO FOR THE FAIR.

REMEMBER, THE FAIR WAS STAGED TO COMMEMORATE COLUMBUS'S VOYAGE TO THE AMERICAS.

BUT THE NORWEGIANS TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THAT LEIF ERICKSON COULD HAVE MADE IT HERE 500 YEARS BEFORE COLUMBUS.

THEY BUILT THIS REPLICA OF AN OLD VIKING SHIP, AND MADE THE 45 DAY VOYAGE THEMSELVES.

THE SHIP WAS DISPLAYED AT THE LINCOLN PARK ZOO FOR 75 YEARS BEFORE LANDING HERE IN GENEVA.

PRESERVATIONISTS HOPE TO HAVE IT RESTORED AND PUT IN A MUSEUM.

SO THIS ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A LITTLE FRAGMENT OF A CANAL THAT WAS HERE AT ONE TIME AND HAS BEEN CUT OFF.

AND THEN THERE ARE THE REMNANTS OF THE FAIR WE HAVE YET TO DISCOVER.

JUST AS PIECES OF A STATUE WERE FOUND IN JACKSON PARK A FEW YEARS BACK, THERE MAY BE OTHER TREASURES BURIED UNDER THE SURFACE HERE, JUST WAITING TO BE REVEALED.

>> THEY'RE PROBABLY STILL UNDER THERE.

AND I'M SURE THAT AS PEOPLE DIG AROUND, PROBABLY IN THE COURSE OF WORK HERE, THINGS WILL SHOW UP.

>> (ANNOUNCER) ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS PROVIDED THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF PETER KELLIHER, JR. AND DIANE KELLIHER.

AND THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION, IN MEMORY OF ALYCE DECOSTA.