[MUSIC] (GEOFFREY BAER) IT'S A PART OF CHICAGO THAT'S FULL OF SURPRISES.

IT'S HOME TO A 28-SQUARE-MILE FOREST WITH A ROCK CANYON.

IT'S WHERE ONE OF THE BLUES BROTHERS DID TIME, ALONG WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHER REAL-LIFE CONVICTS.

AND IT'S THE SETTING FOR CHICAGO'S MOST FAMOUS GHOST STORY, RESURRECTION MARY.

IT'S HOME TO MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER AND MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

[CROWD CHEERING] CHICAGO'S LARGEST ARAB COMMUNITY IS HERE.

IT'S ALSO HOME TO A BUSTLING INDUSTRIAL CANAL.

THAT MODERN WATERWAY RUNS RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE REMNANTS OF A 19TH CENTURY CANAL THAT FIRST CONNECTED THE GREAT LAKES TO THE MISSISSIPPI AND TRANSFORMED CHICAGO FROM A FRONTIER TRADING POST INTO THE FASTEST-GROWING CITY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

I'M GEOFFREY BAER.

JOIN ME FOR A JOURNEY THROUGH THE REGION THAT GAVE BIRTH TO CHICAGO.

THE SOUTHWEST SUBURBS.

HERE'S JUST SOME OF WHAT YOU'LL SEE AND LEARN ABOUT: PRESTON TUCKER'S "CAR OF TOMORROW."

TODAY HIS FACTORY IS FORD CITY MALL.

FRANK SINATRA, DEAN MARTIN AND A HOST OF OTHER STARS AT THE SABRE ROOM IN HICKORY HILLS.

THE SECRET SERVICE AGENT WHO TOOK A BULLET FOR PRESIDENT REAGAN AND THEN BECAME THE POLICE CHIEF OF ORLAND PARK.

A SPECTACULAR RESTORED MOVIE PALACE AND AN AMAZING ARRAY OF PUBLIC ART IN JOLIET.

THE ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD'S CONNECTION TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE BEATLES!

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] OUR TOUR HAS THREE LEGS, EACH USING A DIFFERENT FORM OF TRANSPORTATION, FROM A DIFFERENT ERA IN CHICAGO HISTORY.

OUR ROUTE IS ROUGHLY A TRIANGLE.

ON THE FIRST LEG WE HOP IN A CAR TO VISIT COMMUNITIES ALONG INTERSTATE 294-- THE TRI-STATE TOLLWAY-- FROM BRIDGEVIEW TO MIDLOTHIAN.

THERE WE BOARD THE HISTORIC ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD AND TRAVEL WESTWARD TO JOLIET.

THE LAST LEG TAKES US BACK TOWARD CHICAGO ABOARD A TUGBOAT IN THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY.

THE TRI-STATE TOLLWAY OPENED IN 1958, SO WE THOUGHT WE'D TRAVEL THIS LEG OF OUR JOURNEY IN A CAR BUILT THE SAME YEAR.

THIS IS A 1958 EDSEL PACER LOVINGLY MAINTAINED BY OWNER SANDY RUSNACK.

[MUSIC] THE ILLINOIS TOLLWAY HAS ALWAYS ACCEPTED PENNIES IN THE AUTOMATIC LANES.

NOW THERE'S AN URBAN MYTH THAT THIS IS BECAUSE ILLINOIS IS THE "LAND OF LINCOLN."

OF COURSE NOWADAYS THE I-PASS LANES HAVE MADE THE OLD CHANGE BASKETS ALL BUT OBSOLETE.

SO IF YOU WANT TO SPEND CASH YOU HAVE TO VISIT ONE OF OUR LIVE ATTENDANTS.

SORRY ABOUT THIS.

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, OOPS, FIVE, SIX... [CROWD CHEERING] PRO SPORTS CAME TO BRIDGEVIEW, A COMMUNITY ALONG THE TRI-STATE, IN 2006.

THE NEW TOYOTA PARK IS THE HOME OF A MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER TEAM THE CHICAGO FIRE.

THE $98 MILLION STADIUM SEATS 20,000 AND HAS 48 SKYBOXES.

IT'S ONLY THE FOURTH STADIUM IN THE COUNTRY BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER.

THE FIRE WERE THE CHAMPIONS OF MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER IN THEIR FIRST SEASON 1998.

JOHN OREMUS WAS THE RICHARD J. DALEY OF BRIDGEVIEW... AND THEN SOME!

HE HELD THE OFFICE OF MAYOR FOR 40 OF THE 44 YEARS BETWEEN 1955 AND 1999.

EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT FROM BRIDGEVIEW, CHANCES ARE JOHN OREMUS HAS HAD AN IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE.

BECAUSE HE FOUNDED PRAIRIE MATERIALS.

THE COMPANY SUPPLIED MUCH OF THE CONCRETE FOR CHICAGO'S MAJOR EXPRESSWAYS.

MANY DOWNTOWN CHICAGO BUILDINGS INCLUDING THE NEW TRUMP TOWER AND MILLENNIUM PARK.

WHEN THE MOSQUE FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO OPENED IN BRIDGEVIEW IN 1981, SOME PEOPLE WONDERED IF IT WOULD EVER BE FILLED TO ITS CAPACITY OF 1,500 PEOPLE FOR FRIDAY PRAYERS.

TODAY, SO MANY PEOPLE COME THAT THEY NEED TWO SESSIONS OF FRIDAY PRAYERS AND SOME PEOPLE STILL HAVE TO PRAY OUTSIDE DUE TO LACK OF ROOM.

MANY MEMBERS ARE SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONALS.

TWO SCHOOLS AND A SUNDAY SCHOOL ARE PART OF THE MOSQUE FOUNDATION.

UPSCALE SUBDIVISIONS HAVE REPLACED THE FOREST PRESERVES AND VACANT LAND THAT SURROUNDED THE MOSQUE WHEN IT WAS FIRST BUILT.

PROFESSOR LOUISE CAINKAR WHO HAS SPENT YEARS RESEARCHING CHICAGO'S ARAB COMMUNITY SAYS THAT THERE ARE NOW MORE ARABS AND ARAB-AMERICANS LIVING IN THE SUBURBS THAN IN THE CITY, AND MORE IN THE SOUTHWEST SUBURBS THAN ANY OTHER AREA.

ARABS HAVE A VIBRANT ECONOMY IN THE SOUTHWEST SUBURBS THAT PRODUCES A LOT OF TAX REVENUE.

PROFESSOR CAINKAR SAYS ARAB BUSINESSES TEND TO BE PATRONIZED PREDOMINANTLY BY ARABS.

AND THE ARAB COMMUNITY IN GENERAL REMAINS FAIRLY SEPARATE FROM THE OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THE AREA.

BUT THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THIS.

FARTHER SOUTHWEST IN ORLAND PARK, A BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN-DOMED MOSQUE OPENED IN 2006.

THE LEADERS OF THE DRIVE TO BUILD THAT MOSQUE-- TWO DOCTORS AND A LOCAL BUSINESSMAN-- WERE PROMINENT IN ORLAND PARK, WHICH HELPED TO WEAKEN SOME RESISTANCE TO THE MOSQUE THAT CAME UP IN LOCAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS.

[MUSIC] BACK IN THE EARLY 1900S, THE SITE OF PRESENT DAY BURBANK DIDN'T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE IT DOES TODAY.

IT WAS JUST A LOT OF EMPTY LAND AT THE END OF A CHICAGO STREETCAR LINE.

BUT THAT ACTUALLY MADE IT AN APPEALING PLACE TO BUILD ONE OF THE FIRST AIRPORTS.

AFTER ALL, THERE WOULDN'T BE TOO MANY PEOPLE ON THE GROUND TO HIT IN A CRASH LANDING.

THE AIRPORT WAS USED TO DEMONSTRATE REVOLUTIONARY FLYING MACHINES BUILT BY GLENN CURTISS.

HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST MANUFACTURERS TO BREAK THE WRIGHT BROTHER'S MONOPOLY ON BUILDING AND SELLING AIRPLANES.

THAT AIRPORT ONLY LASTED ONE YEAR BECAUSE DEVELOPERS GOBBLED UP A LARGE SWATHE OF LAND HERE IN STICKNEY TOWNSHIP TO BUILD AN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT.

BUT THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY THERE IS STILL AN AIRPORT IN STICKNEY TOWNSHIP.

MIDWAY AIRPORT SITS ON LAND THAT THE CITY OF CHICAGO LEASED FROM STICKNEY TOWNSHIP IN 1926.

THE TERMS OF THAT LEASE ARE UNKNOWN BECAUSE NO ONE CAN PRODUCE A COPY OF IT.

BUT SOME IN STICKNEY TOWNSHIP SAY THE AIRPORT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE THEIRS AND NOT CHICAGO'S.

AND IF THEY EVER FOUND THE DOCUMENT TO PROVE IT, THE TOWNSHIP WOULD BE IN FOR A WINDFALL!

FORD CITY MALL IS THE AREA'S RETAIL HUB.

BUT BEFORE IT WAS HOME TO THE FOOT LOCKER, MARSHALL'S AND OLD COUNTRY BUFFET, IT HOUSED A VERY BIG DREAM THAT DIED A VERY SUDDEN DEATH.

IN THIS VERY BUILDING PRESTON TUCKER GEARED UP TO PRODUCE THE "CAR OF TOMORROW"-- A REAR-ENGINE, TORPEDO-SHAPED POST-WORLD WAR II DREAM CAR THAT ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN COULD AFFORD.

[MUSIC] ONLY 51 WERE EVER BUILT BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO TUCKER, BIG AUTO MANUFACTURERS CONSPIRED TO KILL HIS DREAM.

PRESTON TUCKER WAS TALL, ALWAYS IMPECCABLY DRESSED AND HAD A MAGNETIC PERSONALITY.

HE FELL IN LOVE WITH CARS AS A KID IN MICHIGAN.

LATER, HE WORKED AS A CAR SALESMAN AND HE ALSO HELPED TO DESIGN RACING CARS.

FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFERED SURPLUS PROPERTY TO ENTREPRENEURS.

TUCKER SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY AND LEASED WHAT IS TODAY FORD CITY MALL.

THIS HAD BEEN A DODGE PLANT DURING THE WAR.

THEY BUILT B-29 BOMBER ENGINES HERE.

TUCKER SAID HE PLANNED TO BUILD THE WORLD'S FIRST COMPLETELY NEW CAR IN 50 YEARS RIGHT HERE.

IT WOULD HAVE A TOP SPEED OF 120 MILES PER HOUR.

IT WAS TO BE MADE OF LIGHTWEIGHT ALUMINUM AND PLASTIC AND HAVE MANY FUTURISTIC SAFETY FEATURES INCLUDING A HEADLIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GRILLE THAT POINTED WHEREVER THE STEERING WHEEL WAS TURNED.

BUT WHILE TUCKER WAS SCRAMBLING TO GET HIS CAR INTO PRODUCTION, THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION LAUNCHED INVESTIGATIONS INTO HIS FINANCING.

THE BAD PUBLICITY SCARED OFF INVESTORS.

EVENTUALLY, THE FACTORY WAS SHUT DOWN, AND THE COMPANY WENT INTO BANKRUPTCY.

AS HIS COMPANY WAS FAILING, TUCKER WROTE AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES ARGUING THAT IT WAS THE BIG AUTOMAKERS AFRAID OF COMPETITION THAT WERE BEHIND THE INVESTIGATIONS.

A JURY LATER CLEARED TUCKER OF ANY WRONGDOING, BUT BY THEN HIS COMPANY WAS LONG GONE.

PRESTON TUCKER DIED AT AGE 53 OF CANCER.

BY THE WAY, THE SLEEK LOOK OF TUCKER'S DREAM CAR WAS CREATED BY THE FAMOUS INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER ALEX TREMULIS.

TREMULIS'S NEPHEW, CHICAGO ROCKER NICHOLAS TREMULIS COMPOSED THE MUSIC FOR THIS SHOW!

[MUSIC] HICKORY HILLS IS THE HOME OF THE LEGENDARY SABRE ROOM.

THIS SUPPER CLUB PUT ITSELF ON THE MAP IN THE 1970S BY BOOKING FRANK SINATRA AND DEAN MARTIN AND CHARGING THE THEN-ASTONISHING PRICE OF $100 PER TICKET, INCLUDING A STEAK DINNER.

♪ MY KIND OF TOWN-- ♪ ♪ CHICAGO IS... ♪ THIS IS A RECORDING OF THAT PERFORMANCE.

♪ MY KIND OF TOWN.

♪ OWNER ARNOLD MUZZARELLI SAID IT WAS CHEAPER THAN FLYING TO LAS VEGAS TO SEE THE DUO.

THE GIG WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT MUZZARELLI BOOKED OTHER BIG NAME ACTS INCLUDING LIZA MINNELLI, JOHNNY CARSON, BILL COSBY, LIBERACE AND TONY BENNETT.

SOME OF THE PRICIER DINNERS HERE USED TO BE SERVED ON FLAMING SABERS.

ARNOLD MUZZARELLI COPIED THE IDEA FROM CHICAGO'S PUMP ROOM WHERE HE ONCE WORKED.

MUZZARELLI TREATED THE BUILDING AS HIS OWN WORK OF ART.

THERE'S A WATERFALL OVER THE ENTRANCE AND THE ORIGINAL BAR FROM CHICAGO'S CHEZ PAREE NIGHTCLUB.

HE DESIGNED MUCH OF THE DÉCOR HIMSELF INCLUDING THE COLORED GLASS SABER-SHAPED WINDOWS.

ARNOLD DIED IN 1992, BUT HIS WIFE MARIE STILL OVERSEES THE BUSINESS WITH HELP FROM HER CHILDREN AND A SON-IN-LAW.

BEFORE THIS WAS THE SABRE ROOM IT WAS A SPA THAT SOLD MEDICINAL SPRING WATER.

IT WAS FOUNDED IN THE 1920S WHEN THIS AREA WAS FAR AWAY FROM CIVILIZATION.

[MUSIC] OWNER CHARLES COEY NAMED IT DYNELL SPRINGS FOR HIS TWO PET BLACK BEARS DYNAMITE AND NELL.

COEY USED TO WRESTLE THE BEARS TO ENTERTAIN CUSTOMERS.

COEY WAS A MASTER AT SELF-PROMOTION, ACCORDING TO A 1953 PROFILE OF HIM IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

AT THE DAWN OF THE AUTOMOBILE AGE, HE HAD OPENED UP ONE OF THE FIRST CHICAGO CAR DEALERSHIPS.

HE SOLD THOMAS FLYERS ON A STRIP OF SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE THAT CAME TO BE CALLED MOTOR ROW.

COEY PROVED THE DURABILITY AND DRIVABILITY OF HIS CARS BY WINNING A 24-HOUR AUTO RACE IN 1907.

OTHER DEALERS AND MANUFACTURERS HIRED DRIVERS FOR THE RACE.

NOT COEY.

HE DROVE HIS OWN CAR.

[MUSIC] EVEN AS HIS AUTOMOBILE BUSINESS WAS FLOURISHING, COEY DEVELOPED ANOTHER INTEREST.

HOT AIR BALLOONING.

HE BOUGHT THE LARGEST BALLOON IN THE WORLD-- TEN STORIES TALL WHEN FULLY INFLATED-- AND NAMED IT THE "CHICAGO."

HE SET A DISTANCE RECORD IN 1908, WITH A FLIGHT FROM CHICAGO ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES TO CANADA.

THE RECORD LASTED FOR 24 YEARS!

THE WAR DEPARTMENT WAS SAID TO HAVE TAKEN AN INTEREST IN HIS BALLOONING TECHNIQUES.

AS COEY'S BALLOONING AND AUTOMOBILE BUSINESSES WERE STARTING TO DECLINE, HE DISCOVERED A MINERAL WATER SPRING ON SOME PROPERTY HE OWNED IN PALOS TOWNSHIP.

THE EVER ADAPTABLE TYCOON LAUNCHED A NEW VENTURE AS THE OWNER OF A HEALTH RESORT.

MORAINE VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN PALOS HILLS IS A CULTURAL HUB OF THE SOUTHWEST SUBURBS.

THE $13-MILLION FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER CONTAINS A 600-SEAT THEATRE AND AN ART GALLERY.

THE COLLEGE ALSO PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE ARAB COMMUNITY.

A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE STUDENT BODY IS PALESTINIAN.

PALOS HILLS, AND ITS NEIGHBORS PALOS HEIGHTS AND PALOS PARK OWE THEIR NAMES TO CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

COLUMBUS SAILED FOR THE NEW WORLD FROM THE SPANISH PORT OF PALOS, ACTUALLY PALOS DE LA FRONTERA IN 1492.

FOUR HUNDRED YEARS LATER, A POSTMASTER WHO CLAIMED TO BE A DESCENDENT OF ONE OF COLUMBUS'S CREW NAMED HIS LOCAL POST OFFICE PALOS PARK IN HONOR OF HIS FAMOUS FOREBEARER.

BEAUTIFUL SECLUDED PALOS PARK WAS SOMETHING OF AN ARTIST'S COLONY IN THE EARLY 1900S.

ITS MOST NOTABLE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE WAS SCULPTOR LORADO TAFT.

YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN HIS FOUNTAIN OF TIME IN CHICAGO'S HYDE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD.

IT'S MORE THAN 100 FEET LONG.

[MUSIC] TAFT SEEMED TO LOVE CREATING HEROIC AND ALLEGORICAL FIGURES ON A HUGE SCALE, LIKE HIS 50-FOOT HIGH STATUE OF BLACK HAWK OVERLOOKING THE ROCK RIVER NEAR OREGON, ILLINOIS.

DESPITE HIS CLASSICAL STYLE AND EUROPEAN TRAINING, LORADO TAFT WAS A MIDWESTERN BOY.

HE WAS BORN IN 1860 IN DOWNSTATE ELMWOOD, ILLINOIS.

HIS FIRST BIG BREAK CAME WHEN HE WAS COMMISSIONED TO CREATE SCULPTURES FOR THE GREAT CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR OF 1893.

HE DIDN'T STOP WORKING UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE HE DIED IN 1936.

ARTISTS WERE DRAWN TO PALOS PARK BECAUSE OF ITS IDYLLIC SETTING SURROUNDED BY HILLS AND FORESTS.

IT HAD ALREADY BEEN DISCOVERED BY WEALTHY CHICAGO GERMANS WHO BUILT A PRIVATE CLUB HERE CALLED THE SHARPSHOOTERS ASSOCIATION IN THE 1890S.

SLOWLY SUMMER AND WEEKEND HOMES WERE CONVERTED TO YEAR-ROUND HOUSES AND...

THE VILLAGE BECAME A BEDROOM COMMUNITY ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO.

MCCORD GALLERY AND CULTURAL CENTER IS KEEPING PALOS PARK'S ARTISTIC SPIRIT ALIVE WITH ART EXHIBITS, MUSIC PERFORMANCES AND CLASSES.

IT'S STAFFED ALMOST ENTIRELY BY VOLUNTEERS.

THE HOUSE ITSELF WAS BUILT BY ONE OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS IN THE PALOS AREA, JOHN D. MCCORD.

EVEN THE ICE CREAM IS FROM ANOTHER ERA IN PALOS PARK.

THEY'VE BEEN MAKING ICE CREAM AND SERVING IT HERE AT THE PLUSH HORSE SINCE 1937.

BACK THEN IT WAS CALLED THE HOBBY HORSE.

HEY, WHAT FLAVOR IS THAT?

THE BUILDING DATES FROM 1893.

IT WAS ONCE A GENERAL STORE.

LATER IT WAS A MEAT MARKET THAT DID DOUBLE DUTY AS THE LOCAL POST OFFICE.

[CAR HORNS BEEPING] ON HOT SUMMER NIGHTS THE PLACE IS SO POPULAR THAT LOCAL POLICE CADETS ARE ASSIGNED TO DIRECT TRAFFIC.

SOME OF THESE HOMES ON QUARTER-ACRE LOTS IN PALOS HEIGHTS HAVE A SURPRISING HISTORY.

THEY WERE ONCE TINY FARMS!

THEY WERE SOLD DURING THE DEPRESSION ERA BY DEVELOPER ROBERT BARTLETT WHO CALLED THEM "FARMETTES".

EACH COST $99.

THE PURCHASE INCLUDED 12 TREES AND SIX GRAPE VINES, WHICH BUYERS HAD TO PLANT THEMSELVES.

BUYERS ALSO GOT SEVERAL INCUBATED CHICKEN EGGS IN CASE THEY WANTED TO START RAISING POULTRY.

[MUSIC] PALOS HEIGHTS HAS TAKEN THE TERM "BACK TO NATURE" LITERALLY.

BEAUTIFUL LAKE KATHERINE NATURE PRESERVE IS BUILT ON TOP OF AN OLD DUMPSITE THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN USED BY THE PALOS GUN CLUB.

IN THE EARLY 1990S, THE COMMUNITY CLEANED UP THIS EYESORE, PLANTED FORESTS AND PRAIRIES, BUILT HIKING TRAILS, CREATED A LAKE AND WETLAND AND EVEN A WATERFALL.

THEY OFFER ALL KINDS OF PROGRAMS FOR FAMILIES AND SCHOOL GROUPS.

LAKE KATHERINE IS NAMED FOR THE MOTHER OF MAYOR EUGENE SIMPSON-- HE WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND CREATING THE NATURE PRESERVE.

[MUSIC] ANYBODY WHO TRAVELS THIS STRETCH OF THE TRI-STATE TOLLWAY KNOWS AT LEAST ONE THING ABOUT THE VILLAGE OF WORTH.

IT'S FRIENDLY!

AND WE ACTUALLY KNOW HOW IT GOT THAT REPUTATION.

A MAN NAMED BILL SCHNEIDER WAS GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR AS AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR VILLAGE TRUSTEE IN 1957 AND HE JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW FRIENDLY EVERYONE WAS TO HIM.

FRIENDLINESS NOTWITHSTANDING, SCHNEIDER LOST THE ELECTION.

WORTH IS HOME TO ONE OF THE MOST SCENIC SPOTS ALONG THE MAN-MADE CAL-SAG CHANNEL; BUT THERE'S A SERIOUS PURPOSE TO THIS 12.5-ACRE PARK.

THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL AERATION STATIONS BUILT BY THE METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT TO BREATHE LIFE BACK INTO THE OVERWORKED WATERWAY.

IT IMPROVES FISH AND PLANT LIFE IN THE CAL-SAG CHANNEL AND HELPS REDUCE ODORS.

THE CAL-SAG IS A SHIPPING CHANNEL THAT OPENED IN 1922.

IT HELPS MAINTAIN THE FLOW IN THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL DOWNSTREAM.

WE'LL LEARN MORE ABOUT IT LATER.

WORTH, ILLINOIS AND FORT WORTH, TEXAS ARE NAMED FOR THE SAME PERSON, GENERAL WILLIAM JENKINS WORTH.

HE SPENT MOST OF HIS CAREER NOT IN THE SOUTHWEST SUBURBS, BUT IN THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES.

HE DID SERVE IN THIS AREA DURING THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

GENERAL WORTH IS NOT BURIED IN WORTH, BUT ANOTHER GREAT LEADER OF MEN IS, FORMER CHICAGO MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY IS AT HOLY SEPULCHRE CEMETERY.

BEFORE IT WAS A CEMETERY, THIS LAND WAS A RACETRACK FROM 1900 TO 1911.

ONE OF THE LOCAL JOCKEYS FRED HERBERT BECAME THE PRIDE OF HIS HOMETOWN, NEIGHBORING CHICAGO RIDGE WHEN HE WON THE KENTUCKY DERBY IN 1910 ON A HORSE NAMED DONAU.

OAK LAWN WAS BRIEFLY CALLED AGNES.

WHY?

WELL POSTMASTERS USED TO HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF NAMING NEW POST OFFICES AND BY DEFAULT THE TOWNS THEY SERVED.

WHEN A POST OFFICE WAS ESTABLISHED HERE IN 1881, POSTMASTER HENRY CROUCH NAMED IT IN HONOR OF HIS WIFE, AGNES.

BUT LOCAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS WANTED A NAME THAT SOUNDED A LITTLE MORE INVITING TO HOME BUYERS.

THEY PERSUADED THE COMMUNITY TO ADOPT THE SYLVAN NAME OF A LOCAL SUBDIVISION, OAK LAWN.

OAK LAWN'S FIRE DEPARTMENT CAME TO THE RESCUE IN 1944 AFTER THE LOCAL WELLS MALFUNCTIONED CAUSING A SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE.

PEOPLE JOKINGLY CALLED OAK LAWN "THE DIRTIEST CITY IN AMERICA" BECAUSE NOBODY COULD TAKE A BATH.

ANYWAY, THE FIRE CHIEF FIGURED OUT A PLAN TO LAY HOSES END TO END ALL THE WAY TO THE FIRE HYDRANTS IN NEIGHBORING EVERGREEN PARK.

AFTER THAT OAK LAWN TOOK STEPS TO GET A PERMANENT SUPPLY OF WATER FROM THE CITY OF CHICAGO.

OAK LAWN GOT MORE THAN WATER FROM CHICAGO.

IN THE 1950S AND '60S A FLOOD OF CHICAGO RESIDENTS MOVED HERE.

MANY WERE WHITE FAMILIES FLEEING RACIAL CHANGE ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE.

THE VILLAGE ANNEXED MORE LAND.

EVENTUALLY IT BECAME ONE OF THE LARGEST MUNICIPALITIES IN COOK COUNTY, COVERING MORE THAN EIGHT SQUARE MILES.

MANY OF THE BURGEONING VILLAGES NEW BUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED IN 1967 WHEN A TORNADO STRUCK.

THE STORM KILLED 31 PEOPLE AND LEFT AN ESTIMATED 600 HOMELESS.

EVERGREEN PARK IS THE HOME OF THE COUNTRY'S FIRST AND ONLY AFRICAN AMERICAN ORIENTED CHILDREN'S MUSEUM.

IT'S THE BRONZEVILLE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM, NAMED FOR THE FAMOUS AFRICAN AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD IN CHICAGO.

THE MUSEUM HAS INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS THAT TEACH KIDS ABOUT THE CULTURE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA.

A BIG PART OF THE MUSEUM'S MISSION IS TEACHING LITERACY AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES.

THE BRONZEVILLE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM IS LOCATED IN THE PLAZA, WHICH ITS OWNERS CLAIM IS THE FIRST ENCLOSED SHOPPING MALL IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

ST. MARY'S CEMETERY IN EVERGREEN PARK IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF BRIAN PICCOLO.

HE WAS THE CHICAGO BEARS RUNNING BACK WHOSE DEATH FROM CANCER AT AGE 26 INSPIRED THE 1971 MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE "BRIAN'S SONG" STARRING JAMES CAAN AS PICCOLO AND BILLY DEE WILLIAMS AS GAYLE SAYERS.

>> GAYLE SAYERS?

HEY... BRIAN PICCOLO.

WE MET UP IN BUFFALO, IN THAT ALL AMERICAN GAME, LAST JUNE.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) PICCOLO JOINED THE CHICAGO BEARS THE SAME YEAR AS SAYERS AND WAS ALWAYS RELEGATED TO BEING SAYERS'S BACKUP.

BUT HE AND SAYERS BECAME CLOSE FRIENDS.

THEY WERE THE FIRST INTERRACIAL ROOMMATES IN THE NFL.

MICHAEL BILANDIC IS ALSO BURIED HERE.

HE WAS APPOINTED MAYOR OF CHICAGO IN 1976 AFTER RICHARD J. DALEY DIED SUDDENLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY.

BILANDIC LOST TO JANE BYRNE IN HIS BID FOR RE-ELECTION.

LATER BILANDIC BECAME CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT.

HE DIED IN 2002.

YOU COULD SAY ALSIP'S INCORPORATION WAS A LIFE AND DEATH DECISION.

IN THE 1920S SO MANY CEMETERIES WERE BEING ESTABLISHED HERE THAT THE TOWN WAS IN DANGER OF BECOMING ONE BIG GRAVEYARD.

THE VERY FIRST ARTICLE OF INCORPORATION IN 1927 BANNED ANY MORE CEMETERY BUILDING.

THERE ARE NOW THREE WITHIN THE VILLAGE AND FIVE ON ITS BORDERS.

AND SOME OF THE TOWN'S MOST NOTEWORTHY RESIDENTS ARE THE PERMANENT ONES.

♪ WHAT A DIFFERENCE ♪ ♪ A DAY MADE.

♪ LEGENDARY BLUES, JAZZ AND R&B SINGER DINAH WASHINGTON IS BURIED HERE IN BURR OAK CEMETERY.

SHE SANG GOSPEL AS A CHILD IN CHICAGO AND TOURED WITH LIONEL HAMPTON BEFORE BECOMING A STAR IN HER OWN RIGHT.

SHE DIED IN 1963 AT THE AGE OF 39 FROM AN OVERDOSE OF PILLS AND ALCOHOL.

♪ ...WHERE THERE ♪ ♪ USED TO BE RAIN... ♪ WILLIE DIXON, BLUES MUSICIAN AND SONGWRITER IS ALSO HERE.

♪ I AM THE BACK DOOR MAN.

♪ EMMETT TILL'S GRAVE IS HERE TOO.

HE WAS THE CHICAGO BOY WHOSE MURDER AT AGE 14 BECAME A CATALYST FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

HE WAS VISITING FAMILY IN MISSISSIPPI IN 1955 WHEN HE WAS ABDUCTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

HIS TORTURED BODY WAS FOUND THREE DAYS LATER IN A RIVER.

HE WAS MURDERED ALLEGEDLY BECAUSE HE WHISTLED AT A WHITE WOMAN.

FOR HIS FUNERAL, HIS MOTHER INSISTED ON HAVING AN OPEN CASKET.

PICTURES OF HIS BODY PUBLISHED IN JET MAGAZINE AND THE CHICAGO DEFENDER SPARKED NATIONWIDE OUTRAGE.

LATER IN THIS TOUR, WE'LL VISIT THE COMMUNITY WHERE EMMETT LIVED AS A CHILD, ARGO, ILLINOIS.

PIONEERING AVIATOR BESSIE COLEMAN IS BURIED IN NEARBY LINCOLN CEMETERY.

SHE WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN OF EITHER GENDER TO EARN A PILOT'S LICENSE.

COLEMAN HAD TO EARN THAT LICENSE IN FRANCE.

SHE WAS SHUT OUT OF AMERICAN FLYING SCHOOLS BECAUSE OF HER RACE AND HER GENDER.

BACK HOME, COLEMAN BECAME A STUNT PILOT AND INSPIRED GENERATIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS TO FLY.

SHE WAS KILLED WHEN SHE FELL OUT OF HER PLANE WHILE PRACTICING FOR AN AIR SHOW IN 1926.

EACH YEAR A SQUADRON OF BLACK PILOTS HONORS COLEMAN BY FLYING OVER HER GRAVE AND DROPPING ROSES FROM THE SKY.

[MUSIC] CHICAGO BLUES LEGEND MUDDY WATERS, IS IN RESTVALE CEMETERY.

HIS INNOVATIVE AMPLIFIED STYLE DIRECTLY INSPIRED MANY ROCK 'N ROLL GREATS LIKE ERIC CLAPTON AND THE ROLLING STONES, WHO NAMED THEMSELVES AFTER ONE OF MUDDY WATERS' SONGS.

♪ ...GONNA BE, ♪ ♪ GONNA BE A ROLLING STONE.

♪ A WHOLE HOST OF OTHER BLUES MUSICIANS ARE ALSO BURIED IN RESTVALE.

SOME ARE BURIED IN UNMARKED GRAVES.

IT'S A SAD COMMENT ON THE POVERTY OF MANY BLUES GREATS, WHO DIED WITHOUT ESTATES AND WHOSE FAMILIES DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR A HEADSTONE.

FOR MANY YEARS, DRIVERS AND ESPECIALLY MOTORCYCLE RIDERS FROM FAR AND WIDE CONVERGED ON THIS SHRINE TO ST. CHRISTOPHER IN MIDLOTHIAN.

THEY CAME FOR THE ANNUAL BLESSING OF VEHICLES.

[MUSIC] MOTORISTS AND BIKERS WHO ATTENDED THE BLESSING EACH YEAR RECEIVED A COMMEMORATIVE DECAL AND PROMISED TO START EVERY JOURNEY WITH A PRAYER.

THE SHRINE WAS DEDICATED IN 1949.

THE ANNUAL BLESSING ASKED GOD TO HELP MOTORISTS DRIVE CAREFULLY AND SAFELY, TO BE KIND AND COURTEOUS TO OTHER DRIVERS AND TO USE THEIR CARS AND MOTORCYCLES FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.

MIDLOTHIAN COMES BY ITS SCOTTISH NAME HONESTLY.

IT GREW UP AROUND A GOLF COURSE, AND GOLF WAS INVENTED IN SCOTLAND.

DESIGNERS OF GOLF COURSES IN THIS COUNTRY OFTEN HAVE TO SCULPT THE LANDSCAPE TO CREATE SCENIC AND CHALLENGING TERRAIN, BUT THAT WASN'T NECESSARY HERE BECAUSE MIDLOTHIAN SITS ON WHAT GEOLOGISTS CALL THE TINLEY MORAINE.

MORAINES ARE ROLLING HILLS MADE OF SAND AND RUBBLE LEFT BEHIND WHEN THE GLACIERS MELTED.

THE CLUB WAS FOUNDED IN 1898, WHICH MAKES IT ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

IT HAD SOME PRETTY ELITE MEMBERS WHEN IT OPENED, INCLUDING MONTGOMERY WARD.

AND MARSHALL FIELD'S PRESIDENT JOHN G. SHEDD, BENEFACTOR OF THE FAMOUS SHEDD AQUARIUM.

THIS MODEST HOUSE WAS PART OF AN ESTATE SHEDD BUILT IN MIDLOTHIAN.

THE U.S. OPEN WAS HELD HERE IN 1914.

WALTER HAGEN WON IT.

EVENTUALLY, SHEDD AND MOST OF THE OTHER WEALTHY RESIDENTS MOVED TO THE NORTH SHORE.

AND MIDLOTHIAN BECAME A "FAMILY CLUB" NOT AS TONY AS OTHERS.

EARLIER I TOLD YOU ABOUT A GHOST WE'LL BE MEETING LATER ON THIS TOUR, RESURRECTION MARY, BUT THAT'S NOT OUR ONLY GHOST STORY.

IN A FOREST PRESERVE NEAR MIDLOTHIAN, YOU'LL FIND THIS LONG FORGOTTEN CEMETERY, WHICH SOME PEOPLE SAY IS FULL OF GHOSTS.

IT'S CALLED BACHELOR'S GROVE CEMETERY.

BURIALS WERE CONDUCTED HERE FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, STARTING IN 1844.

BUT BY THE MID 1960S THE ROAD LEADING TO THE CEMETERY HAD BECOME A NOTORIOUS LOVER'S LANE AND A HANGOUT FOR DRINKING PARTIES.

THE GRAVEYARD WAS REPEATEDLY VANDALIZED.

EVENTUALLY, THE ROAD WAS CLOSED.

THE OLDEST STORY HERE IS ABOUT A PHANTOM FARMHOUSE THAT IS SAID TO APPEAR IN DIFFERENT PLACES ALONG THE ABANDONED ROAD LEADING TO THE OLD CEMETERY.

IT ALWAYS DISAPPEARS AS WITNESSES TRY TO APPROACH IT.

MORE RECENT STORIES MIGHT HAVE BEEN INVENTED BY PEOPLE TRYING TO BUILD UP THE HAUNTED IMAGE OF THE PLACE.

THEY INCLUDE A GLOWING YELLOW MAN AND, WHEN THE MOON IS FULL, A WOMAN IN A WHITE DRESS CARRYING A BABY.

IT'S TIME TO START THE NEXT LEG OF OUR JOURNEY.

SO WE'LL SAY GOODBYE TO OUR 1958 EDSEL AND BOARD A METRA TRAIN THAT FOLLOWS THE PATH OF THE HISTORIC ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD.

[MUSIC] ♪ NOW THIS IS A STORY ♪ ♪ ABOUT THE ROCK ISLAND LINE.

♪ ♪ WELL THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS MIGHTY GOOD ROAD.

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS THE ROAD TO RIDE, YES!

♪ NO ONE KNOWS WHO WROTE THE SONG THAT IMMORTALIZED THE ROCK ISLAND LINE, BUT ITS HISTORY CAN BE TRACED FROM TRACK GANGS IN THE DEEP SOUTH TO THE BEATLES.

♪ ...YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA ♪ ♪ MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE.

♪ IT WAS MOST LIKELY A RAILROAD WORK SONG.

FOLKLORIST JOHN LOMAX DOCUMENTED THE SONG IN A RECORDING AT AN ARKANSAS PRISON.

♪ ...ROCK ISLAND LINE.

♪ HIS ASSISTANT THAT DAY WAS AN EX-CON NAMED HUDDIE LEDBETTER, BETTER KNOWN TO BLUES FANS AS LEAD BELLY.

LEAD BELLY RECORDED HIS OWN VERSION OF THE SONG.

♪ NOW THIS IS ♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE.

♪ ♪ WELL THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS MIGHTY GOOD ROAD.

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS THE ROAD TO RIDE.

♪ ♪ WELL THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS MIGHTY GOOD ROAD, ♪ ♪ IF YOU WANT TO RIDE IT... ♪ LATER THE WEAVERS WITH PETE SEEGER RECORDED IT AS AN HOMAGE TO LEAD BELLY.

♪ WELL THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IT IS MIGHTY GOOD ROAD.

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IT IS THE ROAD TO RIDE.

♪ A SCOTSMAN NAMED LONNIE DONEGAN RECORDED A VERSION IN 1955 THAT TO EVERYONE'S SURPRISE BECAME A BRITISH POP HIT THAT LED TO A CRAZE IN A KIND OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC CALLED SKIFFLE MUSIC.

♪ WELL THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ SHE'S A MIGHTY GOOD ROAD.

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS THE ROAD TO RIDE, YES!

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS A MIGHTY GOOD ROAD... ♪ JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY AND GEORGE HARRISON FIRST PLAYED TOGETHER IN A SKIFFLE GROUP CALLED THE QUARRYMEN, AND EACH WAS KNOWN TO PLAY THE SONG WHILE WARMING UP OR GOOFING AROUND.

OTHER ARTISTS WHO RECORDED THE SONG INCLUDED JOHNNY CASH, HARRY BELEFONTE AND LITTLE RICHARD.

♪ WELL THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS A MIGHTY GOOD ROAD.

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS THE ROAD TO RIDE.

♪ ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE ♪ ♪ IS A MIGHTY GOOD ROAD... ♪ THE ROCK ISLAND LINE MADE ITS MAIDEN RUN FROM CHICAGO TO JOLIET IN 1852.

A LOCOMOTIVE CALLED THE ROCKET PULLED SIX YELLOW COACHES.

THE TRAIN ACTUALLY HAD TO RETURN TO CHICAGO IN REVERSE, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WAY TO TURN THE ENGINE AROUND!

THE LINE WAS COMPLETED TO ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS IN 1854, MAKING IT THE FIRST RAILROAD TO CONNECT CHICAGO TO THE MISSISSIPPI.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN REPRESENTED THE RAILROAD IN A LAWSUIT FILED BY MISSISSIPPI RIVER STEAMBOAT OPERATORS AFTER A BOAT CRASHED INTO THE ROCK ISLAND'S BRIDGE.

THE RAILROAD PREVAILED.

THE METRA COMMUTER TRAIN STILL USES THE SAME GREAT OLD NAME, ROCK ISLAND LINE, EVEN THOUGH THE RAILROAD WENT OUT OF BUSINESS IN 1980.

COMING UP NEXT...

THE DAREDEVIL TINLEY PARK FAMILY THAT PRODUCED FIVE INDY 500 DRIVERS.

THE SECRET SERVICE AGENT WHO TOOK A BULLET FOR PRESIDENT REAGAN AND THEN BECAME THE POLICE CHIEF OF ORLAND PARK.

THE HISTORIC HAMLETS OF MOKENA, FRANKFORT AND NEW LENOX.

A CHILLING VISIT INSIDE THE VACANT JOLIET PRISON.

AND LATER ON...

THE 1990 TORNADO THAT DEVASTATED PLAINFIELD.

SURVIVING FRAGMENTS OF THE OLD ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL AND THE TOWNS ALONG ITS PATH LIKE LOCKPORT, LEMONT AND ROMEOVILLE.

CHICAGO'S MOST FAMOUS GHOST STORY, RESURRECTION MARY AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.

OUR FIRST STOP ON THE ROCK ISLAND LINE IS OAK FOREST.

[MUSIC] THIS IS THE VAST OAK FOREST HOSPITAL COMPLEX.

BUT IN THE DAYS BEFORE MODERN MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH IT WAS THE NOTORIOUS COOK COUNTY POOR FARM.

WHEN IT OPENED IN 1910, PATIENTS WERE CALLED INMATES.

THEY WERE INDIGENT POOR, ALCOHOLICS, MENTALLY ILL AND PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED TUBERCULOSIS.

RESIDENTS HELPED MAINTAIN FARMLAND AROUND THE FACILITY.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO SAYS THE POOR FARM-- WHICH WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE ALMSHOUSE, OR THE OAK FOREST INFIRMARY-- WAS INFAMOUS FOR ITS CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT, DEPLORABLE LIVING CONDITIONS, AND MALTREATMENT OF INMATES.

UNTIL THE 1940S ALMSHOUSE PERSONNEL WERE LARGELY UNTRAINED POLITICAL APPOINTEES.

A SEEDY TOWN GREW UP AROUND THE INSTITUTION.

THERE WERE SPEAKEASIES DURING PROHIBITION, BUT THE LOCAL MORTUARY DID THE BEST BUSINESS, THANKS TO THE CHRONICALLY UNHEALTHY POPULATION OF THE POOR FARM.

UNCLAIMED BODIES WERE BURIED OUT BACK BEHIND THE POND IN A POTTERS FIELD.

RESPECTABILITY AND MIDDLE-CLASS STABILITY CAME TO OAK FOREST WITH A POST-WORLD WAR II BUILDING BOOM AND INCORPORATION IN 1947, AND PUBLIC AID PROGRAMS STARTING IN THE 1940S EVENTUALLY BROUGHT AN END TO THE POOR FARM.

IN THE 1950S IT BECAME A WIDELY RESPECTED COUNTY HOSPITAL OFFERING LONG-TERM CARE AND REHABILITATION FOR UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS.

TODAY, OAK FOREST HOSPITAL COVERS 340 ACRES.

IT HAS 40 BUILDINGS AND 450 BEDS.

[MUSIC] [RAILROAD CROSSING DINGS] TINLEY PARK IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF AT LEAST FIVE INDY 500 DRIVERS: TONY BETTENHAUSEN, HIS SONS GARY, MERLE, AND TONY JR., AND THEIR COUSIN EMIL ANDRES.

ONLY ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO IS HOME TO MORE INDY DRIVERS.

THAT'S WHERE THE UNSER FAMILY IS FROM.

YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE FAMILY'S ILLUSTRIOUS RACING CAREER AT A SMALL MUSEUM LOCATED IN THE TONY BETTENHAUSEN RECREATION CENTER.

IT'S BUILT ON THE SITE OF THE OLD FAMILY FARM.

TONY USED TO RACE CARS ON A DIRT ROAD THERE.

THAT ONCE-DUSTY FARM ROAD IS NOW BUSY 80TH AVENUE.

RACING HAS TAKEN ITS TOLL ON THE FAMILY.

TONY WAS KILLED TESTING A FRIEND'S CAR AT INDY IN 1961.

MERLE LOST HIS ARM IN A CRASH IN 1972.

GARY LOST PARTIAL USE OF HIS ARM IN A CRASH IN 1974.

TONY JR.

SURVIVED RACING, BUT HE AND HIS WIFE WERE KILLED IN A PLANE CRASH ON VALENTINES DAY IN 1999.

[MUSIC] THIS CAR HANGING FROM THE CEILING AT BETTENHAUSEN DODGE DEALERSHIP IN TINLEY PARK WAS ACTUALLY RACED AT INDY IN 1991 BY GARY BETTENHAUSEN.

TONY'S COUSIN OWNS THE DEALERSHIP.

NOW WE'RE NOT AWARE OF ANY SPEEDING TICKETS THAT THE FAST FAMILY HAS BEEN ISSUED IN TINLEY PARK.

BUT ONE OF THEIR ANCESTORS, MRS. MARTHA E. BETTENHAUSEN HAD MORE THAN A FEW RUN-INS WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

IN 1900 SHE TIED HER COW TO A POST IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE.

SHE WAS OPENLY DEFYING A NEWLY WRITTEN LAW FORBIDDING LOCALS FROM PARKING HORSES AND FARM ANIMALS ON PUBLIC STREETS.

MARTHA'S HOUSE WAS BUILT BY AN EARLIER AND WEALTHIER SETTLER.

IT'S NOW ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

AND IT'S PART OF A HISTORIC DISTRICT IN TINLEY PARK CALLED OLDE TOWN.

AT ONE TIME NEARLY EVERYONE IN TINLEY PARK WORKED FOR THE ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD.

IN FACT, THE TOWN WAS NAMED FOR THE ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD'S LONGTIME TICKET AGENT SAMUEL TINLEY.

HE HELD THE JOB FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS UNTIL 1880.

BUT HIS NAME MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN JUST TO HONOR A LOCAL RESIDENT.

RUMOR HAD IT THAT LOCAL REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS THOUGHT AN ENGLISH-SOUNDING NAME LIKE TINLEY WOULD BE MORE APPEALING TO PERSPECTIVE HOME BUYERS THAN THE GERMAN NAME NEW BREMEN, WHICH IS WHAT THE LOCAL GERMAN FARMERS HAD CALLED THIS PLACE FOR 40 YEARS.

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TO TINLEY PARK FOR CONCERTS AT THIS OUTDOOR CONCERT VENUE, BUT THEY MAY HAVE SOME TROUBLE KEEPING THE NAME STRAIGHT.

IT WAS FIRST CALLED THE WORLD MUSIC THEATER, LATER IT BECAME TWEETER CENTER.

IN 2006, THE NAME WAS CHANGED AGAIN TO FIRST MIDWEST BANK AMPHITHEATRE.

THERE'S A MOUTHFUL!

THE DAILY SOUTHTOWN, PUBLISHED IN TINLEY PARK TURNED 100 YEARS OLD IN 2006.

IT WAS BORN ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE AS THE ENGLEWOOD ECONOMIST, A FREE WEEKLY THAT WAS LONG ON ADS AND SHORT ON ARTICLES.

BY THE 1920S, IT HAD GROWN INTO A LEGITIMATE NEWSPAPER CALLED THE SOUTHTOWN ECONOMIST.

ONE DAILY SOUTHTOWN EDITOR DESCRIBED THE PAPER TODAY AS "FEISTY."

A NUMBER OF LOCAL OFFICIALS HAVE ENDED UP IN PRISON AFTER THE PAPER EXPOSED CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENTS, PARK DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS.

THE DAILY SOUTHTOWN FOUGHT TO BRING MIDWAY AIRPORT BACK TO LIFE DURING THE YEARS WHEN IT WAS NEARLY DEAD.

LONGTIME COLUMNIST PHIL KADNER'S REPORTING LED TO NEW STATE LAWS REQUIRING FIRE SAFETY SPRINKLERS IN SCHOOLS.

PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS WRITER TO WORK FOR THE PAPER WAS BILL GLEASON, THE CURMUDGEONLY SPORTS COLUMNIST.

[MUSIC] >> WHAT DID THE PRESIDENT KNOW, AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) ORLAND PARK, WHICH IS NORTH OF TINLEY PARK, HAS A LOT OF HISTORY.

THE WATERGATE HEARINGS, QUEEN ELIZABETH II'S CORONATION, THE D-DAY INVASION-- NO, ALL THESE EVENTS DIDN'T HAPPEN HERE, BUT RARE FILM FOOTAGE OF ALL THIS AND MORE IS ARCHIVED HERE AT THE WPA FILM LIBRARY, ONE OF THE LARGEST HISTORIC FILM FOOTAGE COLLECTIONS IN THE WORLD.

OH, LOOK AT THAT.

AMONG THE MORE THAN 300,000 FILM CLIPS YOU'LL FIND ICONIC EVENTS FROM MODERN HISTORY-- >> IF HE DOESN'T PUT YOU IN JAIL, WONDERFUL; NOBODY WITH ANY SENSE LIKES TO GO TO JAIL.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) VINTAGE TV SHOWS-- ♪ ...IT'S GOING ♪ ♪ TO BE ALRIGHT.

♪ ♪ YEAH, THE WORST ♪ IS OVER NOW... ♪ >> (GEOFFREY BAER) TRAVELOGUES-- >> (ANNOUNCER) LONDONIARES TODAY, HAVE BECOME LIVING SYMBOLS OF THE CITY.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES-- >> THIS GOVERNMENT, AS PROMISED, HAS MAINTAINED THE CLOSEST SURVEILLANCE OF THE SOVIET MILITARY BUILD-UP ON THE ISLAND OF CUBA.

>> (GEOFFREY BAER) AND SOME THINGS THAT JUST DEFY CATEGORIZATION.

[MUSIC] THEY ALSO HAVE CLIPS FROM THE LEGENDARY BRITISH PATHE NEWSREELS.

THE LIBRARY WHICH IS PART OF THE ORLAND PARK-BASED COMPANY MPI HOME VIDEO, SUPPLIES ARCHIVAL FILM CLIPS TO MANY TOP CABLE NETWORKS, PBS, AND MAJOR HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS.

BY THE WAY, THE COMPANY'S PRESIDENT, MALEK ALI, IS ONE OF THE LOCAL LEADING CITIZENS WHO HELPED TO FOUND THE ORLAND PARK PRAYER CENTER THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.

[MUSIC] ORLAND PARK WAS THE FOCUS OF AN EARLY RIVALRY BETWEEN CITY AND SUBURBS.

THE RIVALRY CENTERED ON A COLORFUL LOCAL POLITICIAN.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE DERISIVELY CALLED HIM "FARMER JOHN" HUMPHREY.

BUT HE CERTAINLY WASN'T A FARMER.

HE WAS RAISED ON A FARM HERE BUT HE BECAME A LAWYER AND A LAND DEVELOPER WITH OFFICES IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO.

HE ENVISIONED ORLAND PARK AS A BEDROOM COMMUNITY FOR CHICAGO OFFICE WORKERS LIKE HIM.

BUT MOST OF HIS NEIGHBORS WERE, IN FACT, FARMERS.

WHEN HUMPHREY WAS ELECTED TO THE STATE SENATE, HE BECAME A STAUNCH DEFENDER OF WHAT WAS CALLED THE "COUNTRY TOWNS" AND HE OPPOSED CHICAGO'S POWER.

AT THE TIME CHICAGO WAS GOBBLING UP NEIGHBORING SUBURBS IN A BID TO BE CHOSEN AS THE HOST CITY FOR THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION OF 1893.

HUMPHREY URGED THE SUBURBS TO INCORPORATE SO THEY COULDN'T BE ANNEXED.

CHICAGO NEWSPAPERS ATTACKED HUMPHREY FOR SIDING WITH THE SUBURBS AND ACCUSED HIM OF TAKING BRIBES FROM BIG MONEY INTERESTS LIKE CHICAGO STREETCAR BARON CHARLES YERKES.

IN 1892, WHILE HE WAS STILL SERVING IN THE ILLINOIS SENATE, HE WAS ELECTED ORLAND PARK'S FIRST VILLAGE PRESIDENT.

AT THE TIME THERE WAS A CAMPAIGN TO BAN ALCOHOL IN ORLAND PARK.

HUMPHREY WAS AGAINST IT AND SO WERE MANY OTHERS IN TOWN.

A GROUP OF DRUNKEN LOCALS DISRUPTED A MEETING OF THE ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE OF CHICAGO IN 1911 HERE IN ORLAND PARK AND BASICALLY STARTED A RIOT.

A NEWSPAPER REPORTED THAT "...ONE OF THE RIOTERS SPOKE INSULTINGLY TO A WOMAN" AND, WHEN THE ORGANIZERS TRIED TO EJECT HIM QUOTE , "ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE."

THE SLIDE PROJECTOR WAS SMASHED, TWO OF THE MEETINGS' ORGANIZERS WERE KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS AND A CLERGYMAN WAS STABBED IN THE CHEEK.

ALCOHOL CONTINUED TO FLOW IN ORLAND PARK UNTIL PROHIBITION.

ORLAND PARK EVENTUALLY GREW INTO EXACTLY THE KIND OF SUBURBAN RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY JOHN HUMPHREY DREAMED OF.

EVEN HUMPHREY'S OWN FAMILY FARM GAVE WAY TO SUBURBAN SPRAWL.

IT'S NOW A SHOPPING CENTER, BUT HIS ITALIANATE STYLE FARM HOUSE SURVIVES.

IT'S OPERATED BY THE ORLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THIS CHURCH FROM 1898 KNOWN LOCALLY AS TWIN TOWERS IS ORLAND'S FIRST BUILDING TO BE LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

AT ONE TIME THE CHURCH ALSO SHOWED SILENT MOVIES.

IT'S NOW USED FOR COMMUNITY GATHERINGS AND PRIVATE EVENTS.

ORLAND PARK'S OFFICIAL SLOGAN IS "GOLF CENTER OF THE WORLD."

IT'S PROUDLY PAINTED ON A LOCAL WATER TOWER THAT'S SHAPED A LITTLE LIKE A GOLF BALL ON A TEE.

ORLAND PARK'S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CAME UP WITH THE SLOGAN IN THE 1960S AFTER THEY TOTALED UP THE NUMBER OF GOLF HOLES AT THE 20 COURSES WITHIN A 15-MILE RADIUS OF TOWN AND DECIDED IT WAS THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF ANY CITY IN THE WORLD.

OF COURSE, THERE'S NO WAY TO PROVE THIS CLAIM... WE'VE ALL SEEN THIS SCENE MANY TIMES, THE GRIPPING FOOTAGE OF THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN IN 1981.

BUT WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH ORLAND PARK?

WELL, THAT SECRET SERVICE AGENT THERE, TIMOTHY J. MCCARTHY-- THE ONE WHO DOVE IN FRONT OF THE PRESIDENT AND WAS HIT IN THE ABDOMEN BY ONE OF JOHN HINKLEY'S BULLETS-- WENT ON TO BE ORLAND PARK'S POLICE CHIEF.

MCCARTHY WAS RAISED ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE, THE SON OF A POLICE OFFICER.

LIKE ALL SECRET SERVICE AGENTS, HE WAS TRAINED TO TAKE A BULLET FOR THE PRESIDENT.

BUT HE'S THE ONLY WHO'S EVER ACTUALLY DONE IT.

HE RETIRED FROM THE SECRET SERVICE IN 1993 AND JOINED THE ORLAND PARK POLICE FORCE AS CHIEF IN 1994.

IN 2001, RESIDENTS OF UNINCORPORATED AND LARGELY RURAL HOMER TOWNSHIP BANDED TOGETHER TO FIGHT A LOOMING THREAT ON THEIR DOORSTEP-- UNCONTROLLED SUBURBAN SPRAWL.

THEY VOTED TO INCORPORATE A HUGE AREA, SOME 20 SQUARE MILES, CREATING THE VILLAGE OF HOMER GLEN.

ITS CORE VALUES INCLUDE PRESERVING OPEN SPACE AND LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE.

THE TOWNSHIP HAS BOUGHT UP HUNDREDS OF ACRES OF FARMLAND AND THEY HAVE A PLAN TO RESTORE AND PROTECT NATURAL AREAS AND PROVIDE WILDLIFE CORRIDORS THROUGH THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

EVEN THE ANCIENT ORDER OF BYZANTINE CATHOLICS JUMPED ON THE MODERN NOTION OF SUSTAINABLE "GREEN" ARCHITECTURE WHEN THEY BUILT A NEW CHURCH IN HOMER GLEN.

ANNUNCIATION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD BYZANTINE CATHOLIC PARISH OPENED ON TEN ACRES HERE IN 1999.

IT COMBINED DECLINING PARISHES IN JOLIET AND CHICAGO AND AN OAK LAWN MISSION.

WHAT FIRST GRABS YOUR ATTENTION HERE ARE THE GLISTENING ICON MURALS PAINTED BY THE PASTOR FATHER THOMAS J. LOYA AND HIS ASSISTANTS.

BUT BEHIND THE DAZZLE IS A DEEP COMMITMENT TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

THE CHURCH'S LONG RANGE PLAN INCLUDES PRAIRIE RESTORATION, A GREEN ROOF, RAIN WATER RECYCLING, SOLAR AND WIND POWER.

IN FACT, THAT LITTLE WINDMILL THERE AERATES THE POND.

THE CHURCH'S LANDSCAPE MASTER PLAN WON A 2006 EXCELLENCE IN CONSERVATION AWARD FROM THE GROUP CHICAGO WILDERNESS.

[MUSIC] OUR NEXT STOP ON THE ROCK ISLAND LINE IS MOKENA.

THERE YOU'LL FIND THE GRAVE OF A VETERAN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, CHARLES DENNY.

DENNY IS ONE OF ONLY 19 KNOWN REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERANS BURIED IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

DENNY SPENT MOST OF HIS LIFE IN NEW YORK STATE.

HE WAS ASSIGNED TO A REGIMENT THAT PROTECTED THE AREA AROUND WEST POINT.

AND HIS BIGGEST EXCITEMENT CAME WHEN HE SAW GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON HIMSELF, DURING A TIME WHEN WEST POINT WAS THREATENED BY A BRITISH WARSHIP.

DENNY MOVED TO ILLINOIS IN THE LAST YEAR OF HIS LIFE TO BE NEAR HIS CHILDREN.

HE DIED IN 1839 AT 79 YEARS OF AGE.

[MUSIC] FANS OF THE OLD LUCY SHOW NO DOUBT REMEMBER DESI ARNAZ CONDUCTING HIS ORCHESTRA.

BUT THE REAL CONDUCTOR OF THAT ORCHESTRA WAS WILBUR HATCH, WHO GREW UP IN MOKENA.

HIS FATHER WAS A LOCAL HARNESS MAKER.

THIS INSURANCE OFFICE USED TO BE THE DANCE HALL IN MOKENA WHERE HATCH LED THE ORCHESTRA BEFORE HE WENT TO HOLLYWOOD.

IN FACT, IT WAS CALLED HATCH'S HALL.

[MUSIC] RUNNING PARALLEL TO THE ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD IS A MUCH MORE ANCIENT WAY TO GET TO ROCK ISLAND ILLINOIS.

IT'S AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL CALLED THE SAUK TRAIL BECAUSE ROCK ISLAND'S NATIVE AMERICAN NAME WAS SAUKENUK.

I'VE TAKEN YOU HERE ON A LITTLE SIDE TRIP TO FRANKFORT TO SHOW IT TO YOU AND TELL YOU ITS STORY.

LONG BEFORE THE DAYS OF CONCRETE PAVEMENT AND CARS THIS TRAIL BETWEEN DETROIT AND ROCK ISLAND WAS USED BY NATIVE AMERICANS, EUROPEAN EXPLORERS, ARMIES OF FRANCE, BRITAIN, SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES, WHITE HOMESTEADERS AND ESCAPED SLAVES FOLLOWING THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO FREEDOM IN CANADA.

AT THE DAWN OF THE AUTOMOBILE AGE, THE SAUK TRAIL BECAME PART OF AMERICA'S FIRST COAST-TO-COAST HIGHWAY, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

IT MADE CAR TRAVEL BETWEEN CITIES POSSIBLE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

ONLY 150 BRAVE SOULS MADE THE CROSS-COUNTRY TREK THE YEAR IT OPENED IN 1912.

BUT SOME LOCAL STRETCHES OF THE ROAD STILL RETAIN THE OLD NAME.

IN FRANKFORT YOU CAN STILL SEE SOME ARCHEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF THE OLD LINCOLN HIGHWAY-- A STRIP OF ORIGINAL PAVEMENT RUNS FOR ABOUT HALF A MILE ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF ROUTE 30.

THIS BEAUTIFUL BIKE TRAIL IS NAMED FOR AN OLD PLANK ROAD THAT NEVER ACTUALLY EXISTED.

A HIGHWAY OF WOODEN PLANKS WAS PLANNED HERE, BUT INVESTORS WISELY BUILT A RAILROAD INSTEAD.

EVENTUALLY IT BECAME THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILROAD.

THE LINE WAS ABANDONED IN THE 1970S.

AS PART OF THE "RAILS TO TRAILS" MOVEMENT THE OLD RIGHT OF WAY WAS EVENTUALLY CONVERTED TO A BIKE PATH.

IT RUNS BETWEEN PARK FOREST AND JOLIET.

THE RAILROAD INSPIRED A LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR TO ESTABLISH THE VILLAGE OF FRANKFORT HERE IN THE 1850S.

MANY 19TH CENTURY BUILDINGS SURVIVE IN FRANKFORT TODAY, SOME WERE BUILT BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, MAKING THE VILLAGE A QUAINT TOURIST ATTRACTION IN THE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING REGION.

THE LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFERS AUDIO TOURS OF THE VILLAGE.

BY THE WAY, GERMAN SETTLERS NAMED THE TOWNSHIP IN THE 1840S FOR THE CITY OF FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY .

CONTINUING WEST, THE OLD LINCOLN HIGHWAY, WHICH FOLLOWS THE OLDER SAUK TRAIL TAKES US TO NEW LENOX.

NEW LENOX HAS ITS OWN LINCOLN HIGHWAY RELIC.

A MARKER FROM 1928, AT LINCOLN-WAY HIGH SCHOOL.

AFTER THE HIGHWAY WAS DECOMMISSIONED, BOY SCOUTS ERECTED MARKERS LIKE THIS ONE AT ONE-MILE INTERVALS FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE OLD ROAD.

THIS ONE ORIGINALLY STOOD IN JOLIET, BUT AFTER THE ROAD WAS WIDENED THERE IT WAS IN DANGER OF BEING HIT BY CARS, SO ONE OF LINCOLN-WAY'S TEACHERS AND HIS STUDENTS TRANSPLANTED IT HERE.

THE GREAT INDIAN CHIEF SHABBONA USED TO VISIT A TRADING POST IN NEW LENOX AND A NEARBY BURIAL GROUND ACCORDING TO FAMILY RECORDS.

THAT OLD TRADING POST IS STILL STANDING.

IT'S AN UNASSUMING LITTLE STRUCTURE BUILT IN 1844.

BACK THEN THIS COMMUNITY WAS CALLED GOUGAR'S CROSSING AFTER AN EARLY SETTLER FAMILY.

A GOUGAR FAMILY DESCENDANT LIVES IN THE HOUSE TODAY!

NEW LENOX GOT ONE OF THE FIRST RURAL TELEPHONE SYSTEMS IN THE COUNTRY IN 1899.

BACK THEN, THERE WAS FIERCE COMPETITION AMONG CHICAGO-AREA TELEPHONE COMPANIES TO ESTABLISH WHAT WAS CALLED "FARMER LINE" SERVICE.

CHICAGO TELEPHONE COMPANY, WHICH WAS LATER PART OF BELL TELEPHONE, MADE A BOLD MOVE BY ESTABLISHING SERVICE TO NEW LENOX FARMERS FOR JUST A $1 PER MONTH-- A PRICE THAT REGIONAL INDEPENDENT PHONE COMPANIES JUST COULDN'T COMPETE WITH.

[MUSIC] THE LAST STOP ON THIS LEG OF OUR TOUR IS JOLIET.

[MUSIC] JOLIET HAS A LOT TO BE PROUD OF.

IT'S THE WILL COUNTY SEAT, IT'S ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING CITIES IN THE COUNTRY.

WE'LL GET TO ALL OF THAT AND MORE IN A MOMENT.

BUT FIRST LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT MOST PEOPLE KNOW BEST ABOUT JOLIET: IT'S THE HOME OF THE BIG HOUSE.

[MUSIC] JOLIET PRISON, WHICH CLOSED IN 2002 WAS IMMORTALIZED IN THE "BLUES BROTHERS" MOVIE, WHICH BEGINS WITH THE RELEASE OF JAKE BLUES, A.K.A.

"JOLIET JAKE."

[MUSIC] MORE RECENTLY THE FOX TELEVISION SERIES "PRISON BREAK" USED THE SHUTTERED PENITENTIARY AS THE SETTING FOR ITS FIRST SEASON.

[SIRENS] CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON JOLIET PRISON IN THE LATE 1850S.

THE STATE PICKED THIS LOCATION IN PART BECAUSE IT SITS ON A BED OF SOLID LIMESTONE.

THAT WOULD MAKE TUNNELING OUT PRETTY DIFFICULT AND ALSO PROVIDE A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF BUILDING MATERIALS FOR THE STONE PRISON WALLS.

PRISONERS DOING HARD LABOR QUARRIED THOSE WALLS IN THE LATE 1850S.

THE PROMINENT CHICAGO ARCHITECTS W.W. BOYINGTON AND OTIS WHEELOCK DESIGNED THE PRISON TO LOOK LIKE A MEDIEVAL CASTLE.

THE FAMOUS CHICAGO WATER TOWER WAS ALSO DESIGNED BY BOYINGTON USING THE SAME STYLE AND THE SAME LIMESTONE AS JOLIET PRISON.

THE PRISON WAS REMODELED OVER TIME, BUT ONE ORIGINAL CELL WAS PRESERVED.

THIS IS HOW PRISONERS LIVED WHEN JOLIET PRISON FIRST OPENED.

TWO TO A CELL, THE CELLS JUST FOUR FEET BY SEVEN FEET.

THEY HAD STRAW MATTRESSES ON THE BUNKS.

THERE'S NO WINDOW, JUST A BREATHING TUBE, AND THERE WERE TWO CROCKERY BUCKETS IN HERE, ONE FOR WATER, AND THE OTHER ONE FOR HUMAN WASTE.

INMATES SENT TO SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOUND A FEW WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT ETCHED INTO THE FLOOR.

FADED NOW, THEY READ "IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND."

A REPORT FROM 1864 SAID THAT THERE WERE TWO TEN-YEAR-OLD PRISONERS HERE.

THERE WAS ALSO A 13-YEAR-OLD, A 15-YEAR-OLD, AND A 16-YEAR-OLD.

ABOUT HALF THE INMATES WERE DOING TIME FOR LARCENY.

ONE PRISONER WAS HERE FOR 30 DAYS FOR HAVING THREE WIVES-- TEN DAYS PER WIFE.

AN EXCELLENT BOOK ABOUT JOLIET PRISONS BY HISTORIAN ROBERT STERLING DETAILS HOW BUSINESSES ONCE CONTRACTED WITH THE PRISON FOR LABOR.

PRISONERS MADE SHOES, CHAIRS, WAGONS, BROOMS AND BARRELS, AND THEY QUARRIED STONE.

UNTIL AROUND THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, PRISONERS WORE STRIPES.

THEY WERE FORCED TO WALK SILENTLY IN LOCK STEP EACH WITH HIS HAND ON THE SHOULDER OF THE MAN IN FRONT OF HIM.

BATHS HAPPENED ONCE A WEEK IN SUMMER, ONCE EVERY OTHER WEEK IN WINTER.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED INMATES SHARED 15 BATHTUBS, SOMETIMES BATHING TWO TO A TUB TO SAVE TIME AND WATER.

WATER WAS INFREQUENTLY CHANGED.

MANY PRISONERS BECAME SICK.

SOME DIED.

PUNISHMENT DURING THE EARLY YEARS INCLUDED BEING WHIPPED, PUT IN STOCKS AND HANDCUFFED TO A DOOR IN SOLITARY.

THIS CORRECTIONAL CENTER WAS THE FIRST OF THREE PRISONS IN JOLIET.

A WOMEN'S PRISON WAS BUILT IN 1896 ACROSS THE STREET FROM JOLIET PRISON.

BEFORE THAT, FEMALE PRISONERS LIVED IN THE CRAMPED ATTIC ABOVE THE WARDEN'S HOUSE ON THE JOLIET PRISON GROUNDS.

CELLS IN THE WOMEN'S PRISON WERE POSITIVELY LUXURIOUS COMPARED TO THE MEN'S PRISON.

THE WOMEN LIVED ONE TO A CELL, AND HAD SINKS AND TOILETS, A FULL WINDOW, A BEDSPREAD, RUGS, A MIRROR AND A ROCKING CHAIR.

CHILDREN BORN IN PRISON STAYED WITH THEIR MOTHERS UNTIL THEY WERE FOUR YEARS OF AGE.

MOST OF THE WOMEN CONVICTS WERE PUT TO WORK IN A STEAM LAUNDRY.

THE WOMEN'S PRISON CLOSED IN 1932 WHEN A NEW WOMEN'S FACILITY OPENED IN DWIGHT, ILLINOIS.

THE THIRD JOLIET AREA PRISON WAS BUILT IN 1925 AND IT'S STILL IN OPERATION-- STATEVILLE.

HERE'S A VIEW MOST LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS NEVER GET.

THIS IS STATEVILLE'S FAMOUS ROUND CELL HOUSE, SHOWN IN A CLIP FROM THE 1983 FILM "BAD BOYS" STARRING SEAN PENN.

THE PRISON'S ORIGINAL DESIGN FEATURED A NUMBER OF THESE ROUND CELL HOUSES, EACH WITH A GUARD TOWER IN THE CENTER.

THIS TYPE OF PRISON WAS FIRST PROPOSED IN 1811 BY THE IMPORTANT ENGLISH PHILOSOPHER, JEREMY BENTHAM.

HE SAW THIS DESIGN AS A HUMANE ALTERNATIVE TO DARK DUNGEONS AND TORTURE CHAMBERS.

THE KEY TO BENTHAM'S DESIGN, WHICH HE CALLED A PANOPTICON, WAS THAT THE PRISONERS WOULD NEVER KNOW IF A GUARD WAS WATCHING THEM.

BENTHAM BELIEVED THAT THIS WOULD CAUSE THE PRISONERS TO DEVELOP AN INTERNAL SENSE OF SELF-DISCIPLINE.

IN ESSENCE, THEY'D START WATCHING THEMSELVES.

BUT 20TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHER MICHEL FOUCAULT DIDN'T THINK THE DESIGN WAS HUMANE AT ALL.

HE THOUGHT THE PANOPTICON PERFECTLY REPRESENTED AN INSIDIOUS TREND IN MODERN SOCIETY.

THAT THE POWERFUL NOW CONTROL THE MASSES NOT THROUGH FORCE, BUT THROUGH SURVEILLANCE.

A LATER CELLBLOCK WAS BUILT IN A RECTANGULAR FORM.

IT'S SAID TO BE THE LONGEST CELL HOUSE IN THE WORLD.

ONLY ONE OF THE ROUND CELL HOUSES IS STILL STANDING.

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST IN 1951 CALLED STATEVILLE "AMERICA'S TOUGHEST PRISON."

THE WARDEN GAVE EDWARD R. MURROW'S VIEWERS A TOUR ON THE CBS SERIES "PERSON TO PERSON."

BUT STATEVILLE DIDN'T GET OFF TO A VERY GOOD START WHEN IT OPENED IN 1925.

IT WAS STAFFED MOSTLY BY UNQUALIFIED POLITICAL APPOINTEES, AND DEPRESSION-ERA MOBSTERS LOCKED UP HERE TURNED IT INTO A "GANGSTER'S COUNTRY CLUB" ACCORDING TO AUTHOR, ROBERT STERLING.

MASSIVE REFORM CAME TO STATEVILLE IN 1935, WHEN WARDEN JOSEPH E. RAGEN WAS APPOINTED.

HE HAD HIS WORK CUT OUT FOR HIM WHEN HE GOT HERE.

FIRST, HE HAD TO EVICT 10,000 CANARIES THAT THE PRISONERS WERE RAISING AS PETS AND TO SELL TO PET STORES.

HE ALSO GOT RID OF THEIR DOGS, CATS, AND RABBITS.

THE MOB BOSSES WERE RUNNING A LIQUOR STORE AND A GAMBLING OPERATION.

THEY ALSO WERE ALLOWED CONJUGAL VISITS WITH THEIR WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS, AND REGULARLY HAD FOOD DELIVERED TO THEIR NICELY FURNISHED CELLS.

RAGEN TRANSFERRED THE BOSSES TO OTHER PRISONS.

HE PUT THE REST OF THE PRISONERS TO WORK BEAUTIFYING THE GROUNDS.

IT WAS THE ONLY WORK AVAILABLE DURING THE DEPRESSION.

THE PRISON BECAME FAMOUS AS A HORTICULTURAL SHOWCASE.

IN LATER YEARS, PRISONERS WERE TAUGHT DOZENS OF DIFFERENT TRADES IN THE PRISON'S VOCATIONAL SCHOOL AND IN FACTORIES THAT MADE AMONG OTHER THINGS, SOAP, FURNITURE AND GARMENTS.

PRISONERS ALSO SERVED AS VOLUNTEER GUINEA PIGS FOR MALARIA EXPERIMENTS DURING WORLD WAR II.

MOST HAD SOME TIME CUT FROM THEIR SENTENCES IN EXCHANGE FOR BEING INFECTED.

SEVERAL CURES FOR MALARIA WERE DEVELOPED AS A RESULT.

ONE OF THE LAB ASSISTANTS FOR MALARIA EXPERIMENTS WAS NATHAN LEOPOLD.

HE AND RICHARD LOEB WERE JAILED AT STATEVILLE FOR MURDERING A BOY IN THEIR HYDE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD JUST FOR THE THRILL OF IT.

LEOPOLD AND LOEB HAD BEEN WEALTHY AND BRILLIANT STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

AT STATEVILLE, THEY ESTABLISHED CORRESPONDENCE COURSES FOR OTHER INMATES.

LOEB WAS KILLED IN 1936 BY ANOTHER INMATE WITH A STRAIGHT RAZOR.

LEOPOLD SPENT HIS YEARS AT STATEVILLE READING AND STUDYING.

HE MASTERED 12 LANGUAGES IN ADDITION TO THE 15 HE HAD LEARNED BEFORE HIS ARREST .

HE WAS RELEASED IN 1958 AND MOVED TO PUERTO RICO WHERE HE LIVED UNTIL HIS DEATH AT AGE 66 IN 1971.

STATEVILLE ISN'T ACTUALLY IN JOLIET.

THE LAND IT SITS ON WAS ANNEXED TO THE COMMUNITY OF CREST HILL IN 1987.

THE MAJORITY OF CREST HILL'S TAX REVENUE COMES FROM THE PRISON.

IN THE 2000 CENSUS NEARLY 20% OF CREST HILL'S POPULATION WAS INSIDE THE WALLS OF STATEVILLE.

COMING UP... MORE OF JOLIET INCLUDING A SPECTACULAR RESTORED MOVIE PALACE AND AN AMAZING ARRAY OF PUBLIC ART.

THE 1990 TORNADO THAT DEVASTATED PLAINFIELD AND NEARBY COMMUNITIES.

SURVIVING FRAGMENTS OF THE OLD ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL.

THE HISTORIC TOWNS ALONG ITS PATH LIKE LOCKPORT, LEMONT AND ROMEOVILLE.

AND THE BUSTLING MODERN-DAY WATERWAY THAT REPLACED IT.

CHICAGO'S MOST FAMOUS GHOST STORY, RESURRECTION MARY.

A ONE-TENTH-SIZED REPLICA OF THE WHITE HOUSE IN DARIEN.

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.

JOLIET HAS GIVEN US A NUMBER OF MAJOR AND MINOR CELEBRITIES... LOIS DELANDER A HIGH SCHOOL HONOR STUDENT FROM JOLIET WAS CROWNED MISS AMERICA IN 1927, BUT NOT IN THE CONVENTIONAL WAY.

THE PREVIOUS MISS AMERICA NORMA SMALLWOOD DEMANDED $600 TO CROWN LOIS, WHICH WAS REFUSED.

SO LOIS WAS CROWNED BY A STAND-IN.

LOIS IS ALSO THE ONLY MISS AMERICA TO SERVE A FIVE-YEAR TERM.

THAT'S BECAUSE AFTER SHE WAS CROWNED, ATLANTIC CITY ELIMINATED THE PAGEANT-- THEY THOUGHT IT WAS HURTING THE CITY'S IMAGE.

THEN THE GREAT DEPRESSION HIT, KEEPING THE PAGEANT FROM BEING REVIVED UNTIL 1933.

[MUSIC] CHOREOGRAPHER, ANTHROPOLOGIST AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST KATHERINE DUNHAM REVOLUTIONIZED MODERN DANCE BY INTRODUCING AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN DANCE MOVEMENTS TO MAINSTREAM AUDIENCES ON BROADWAY AND ACROSS THE WORLD.

DUNHAM EXCELLED IN DANCE CLASSES AS A CHILD IN JOLIET, BUT HER PARENTS WANTED HER TO BE A TEACHER.

SO SHE WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ON SCHOLARSHIP AND MAJORED IN ANTHROPOLOGY.

THAT UNIQUE COMBINATION OF TRAINING WON HER A PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP TO DO FIELD WORK IN HAITI AND OTHER CARIBBEAN ISLANDS.

SHE RETURNED TO AMERICA INSPIRED.

SHE FORMED A DANCE TROUPE THAT PERFORMED GLAMOROUS AND WILDLY POPULAR REVUES BASED ON AFRO-CARIBBEAN MOVEMENTS AND RITUALS.

BUT HER LIFE WASN'T ALL SHOW BIZ AND STUDY.

SHE ALSO SPOKE OUT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.

SHE EVENTUALLY MOVED TO EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS AND OPENED A SCHOOL AND CULTURAL CENTER THERE TO SERVE THE POOR AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION.

DUNHAM DIED AT AGE 96 IN 2006.

[TRAIN HORN WHISTLING] AS YOU LOOK AROUND JOLIET, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF BUILDINGS MADE FROM THAT SAME DISTINCTIVE YELLOWISH LIMESTONE THAT WAS USED FOR THE LOCAL PRISON.

AND THE MATERIAL WAS EXPORTED AS WELL.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE ILLINOIS STATEHOUSE IN SPRINGFIELD IS MADE IN PART OF JOLIET LIMESTONE.

JOLIET LIMESTONE LOOKS YELLOW BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IRON, WHICH OXIDIZES OVER TIME.

IT WAS MOST POPULAR IN THE 1880S.

BY THE 1890S, IT WAS SURPASSED BY INDIANA LIMESTONE, WHICH WAS OF HIGHER QUALITY AND WAS ALSO CHEAPER BECAUSE IT WAS QUARRIED BY NON-UNION WORKERS.

JOLIET AREA STONE IS SOMETIMES CALLED "ATHENS MARBLE."

I'LL TELL YOU WHY LATER.

SOME STREET NAMES IN JOLIET ARE REMINDERS OF THIS INDUSTRY: STONE, LIME, MARBLE AND GRANITE.

EVEN BEFORE JOLIET LIMESTONE BEGAN TO DECLINE IN POPULARITY, THE CITY STARTED PRODUCING ANOTHER BUILDING MATERIAL, STEEL.

JOLIET BECAME KNOWN AS THE CITY OF STEEL AND STONE.

BOTH INDUSTRIES ARE LONG GONE NOW.

THE RUINS OF THE OLD JOLIET IRON WORKS HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO A HISTORIC SITE TO REMIND US THAT THOUSANDS WERE EMPLOYED HERE FROM THE 1870S TO THE 1930S.

MANY WERE EASTERN EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS.

THIS SCULPTURE AT JOLIET CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IS CALLED THE STEELMAN.

IT WAS CREATED FOR CHICAGO'S "CENTURY OF PROGRESS" WORLD'S FAIR IN 1933 TO RECOGNIZE JOLIET'S STEEL INDUSTRY.

THE ARTIST, LOUISE LENTZ WOODRUFF, WAS AN ALUM OF JOLIET TOWNSHIP HIGH.

SHE LATER STUDIED WITH LORADO TAFT.

AFTER THE FAIR SHE DONATED THE SCULPTURE TO HER ALMA MATER.

A 21ST CENTURY REINTERPRETATION OF WOODRUFF'S SCULPTURE WAS DEDICATED IN 2002.

IT'S BY ARTIST MARSHA LEGA AND IT'S MADE OF COR-TEN STEEL.

JOLIET CENTRAL IS AN ARCHITECTURAL WORK OF ART IN ITSELF.

THE IMPOSING GOTHIC STYLE LIMESTONE EDIFICE FROM 1901 IS LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES.

♪ YOU ONCE... ♪ LIONEL RICHIE GRADUATED IN 1967 FROM JOLIET TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL.

HE WAS ON THE VARSITY TENNIS TEAM THERE.

HE WROTE MANY OF THE BIGGEST HITS FOR THE COMMODORES INCLUDING "THREE TIMES A LADY."

HE ALSO CO-WROTE "WE ARE THE WORLD" WITH MICHAEL JACKSON.

THE SUCCESS OF THE STEEL MILLS ATTRACTED MANY OTHER INDUSTRIES TO JOLIET.

FACTORIES MADE EVERYTHING FROM STOVES AND HORSESHOES TO PIANOS AND BARRELS.

HART, SCHAFFNER AND MARX MADE MEN'S SUITS.

JOLIET WAS THE WALLPAPER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD IN THE 1920S AND 30S.

SIX MILLS TURNED OUT 100,000,000 ROLLS A YEAR, APPROXIMATELY ONE THIRD OF THE COUNTRY'S ANNUAL OUTPUT, ACCORDING TO HISTORIAN ROBERT STERLING.

THERE WERE EVEN CARS MANUFACTURED IN JOLIET.

ONE WAS CALLED THE "ECONOMY."

THERE'S A 1909 MODEL E ECONOMY MOTOR BUGGY IN THE LOBBY OF THE JOLIET AREA HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

EVEN THIS PEACEFUL PRAIRIE HAS AN INDUSTRIAL PAST.

IT WAS ONCE THE SITE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST TNT FACTORY, THE JOLIET ARSENAL, ESTABLISHED DURING WORLD WAR II.

IT WAS ALSO A BOMB ASSEMBLY PLANT.

AT ITS PEAK IT PRODUCED, 5.5 MILLION TONS OF TNT EVERY WEEK.

THAT'S MORE THAN 300 TIMES THE EXPLOSIVE POWER OF THE ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA... EVERY WEEK.

TO KEEP THE PUBLIC A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE EXPLOSIVES THE ARSENAL WAS SURROUNDED BY 19,000 ACRES OF FENCED OFF OPEN LAND.

GOOD THING, TOO.

AN ACCIDENTAL EXPLOSION KILLED 48 WORKERS ON THE NIGHT SHIFT ON JUNE 5, 1942.

THE EXPLOSION WAS SAID TO HAVE RATTLED WINDOWS FROM JOLIET TO KANKAKEE.

PEOPLE IN NEW LENOX AND FRANKFORT REPORTED BEING THROWN FROM THEIR BEDS!

ABOUT 14,000 PEOPLE WORKED AT THE PLANT AT ITS PEAK DURING WORLD WAR II AND MANY OF THOSE WORKERS WERE WOMEN, BECAUSE THE MEN WERE OFF FIGHTING OVERSEAS.

THE PLANT CONTINUED PRODUCING TNT UNTIL 1976.

IN 1996, THE PROPERTY WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE AND DESIGNATED AMERICA'S FIRST NATIONAL TALL GRASS PRAIRIE.

IT WAS GIVEN THE POTAWATOMI NAME MIDEWIN, WHICH CAN BE TRANSLATED AS HEALING OR MAKING WHOLE AGAIN.

BUT THAT HEALING PROCESS WILL TAKE A WHILE.

AS OF 2006, ABOUT A THIRD OF THE PROPERTY, 6,400 ACRES, HAD BEEN CLEANED UP AND WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

THESE EARTH COVERED CONCRETE BUNKERS WERE BUILT TO STORE TNT AND TO CONTAIN ACCIDENTAL EXPLOSIONS.

IT WOULD BE TOO EXPENSIVE TO DISMANTLE ALL OF THESE.

BUT FORTUNATELY THEY'RE PERFECT FOR STORING SEEDS AND GERMINATING PRAIRIE PLANTS.

THE CITY OF JOLIET IS NAMED FOR THE EXPLORER LOUIS JOLLIET WHO CAME THROUGH THIS AREA IN 1673.

HE WAS ON A JOURNEY FROM CANADA WITH A JESUIT PRIEST, FATHER JACQUES MARQUETTE.

MARQUETTE AND JOLLIET PROBABLY CAMPED ON A LARGE HILL THAT ONCE DOMINATED THIS AREA.

THE EXPLORER JOLLIET SEEMS TO HAVE NAMED THE HILL FOR HIMSELF.

HIS 1674 MAP OF THE AREA SHOWS A MOUNT JOLLIET.

BUT LATER, ENGLISH MAPMAKERS CORRUPTED THE NAME TO JULIET.

SO WHEN THE VILLAGE WAS OFFICIALLY LAID OUT IN 1834 IT WAS CALLED JULIET.

NO LESS A FIGURE THAN PRESIDENT MARTIN VAN BUREN RECOMMENDED CHANGING THE CITY'S NAME BACK TO JOLIET.

VAN BUREN WAS HERE ON A VISIT IN THE 1840S AND SOME LOCAL RESIDENTS WHO KNEW THE HISTORY OF THE CITY'S NAME ASKED FOR HIS OPINION.

THEY PROMPTLY TOOK HIS ADVICE.

LIKE MANY INDUSTRIAL CITIES, JOLIET SUFFERED ECONOMIC DECLINE IN THE LATE 1970S.

BY 1983, ALMOST A QUARTER OF JOLIET'S WORKFORCE WAS UNEMPLOYED ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO.

SINCE THEN, THE CITY HAS WORKED HARD TO REVITALIZE ITSELF.

A PAIR OF GAMBLING CASINOS HAVE BROUGHT IN TAX REVENUES AND JOBS.

HERE'S A FUN FACT: THE EMPRESS CASINO HAS FOUR ORIGINAL PICASSO'S HANGING IN THE HIGH-LIMIT TABLE AREA.

MORE RECENTLY, BIG TIME MOTOR SPORTS ARE DRAWING CROWDS IN JOLIET.

THE $130 MILLION CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY OPENED JUST IN TIME FOR THE RECENT NASCAR CRAZE.

[RACE CARS REVVING] INDY CARS RACE HERE TOO.

THE SPEEDWAY CAN HANDLE UP TO 75,000 FANS.

FOR THOSE WHO PREFER DIRT TRACKS, THE ROUTE 66 RACEWAY NEXT DOOR HAS EVERYTHING FROM DRAGSTERS TO DEMOLITION DERBIES AND MONSTER TRUCK SHOWS.

[MUSIC] MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IS A MAJOR BUSINESS IN JOLIET.

THE JOLIET JACKHAMMERS OF THE INDEPENDENT NORTHERN LEAGUE PLAY IN THE SNAZZY SILVER CROSS FIELD.

THE PARK OFFERS A HOT TUB DOWN THE RIGHT FIELD LINE AND SKYBOXES THAT RENT FOR $20,000 FOR THE SEASON NOT INCLUDING FOOD.

TOTAL ATTENDANCE FOR 2006 WAS ALMOST 200,000 OR AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 4,300 PEOPLE PER GAME.

[MUSIC] THE AVERAGE PLAYER IN THE NORTHERN LEAGUE MAKES ABOUT $4,700 FOR THE SEASON, WHICH IS ABOUT ONE FOURTH OF WHAT AN AVERAGE MAJOR LEAGUER MAKES PER GAME.

ALL THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN PAYING OFF IN HUGE GROWTH AS I MENTIONED EARLIER.

JOLIET'S POPULATION HAS NEARLY DOUBLED SINCE 1990.

AS OF 2005, IT STOOD AT ALMOST 130,000.

AS PART OF ITS COMEBACK JOLIET HAS BEEN SPRUCING ITSELF UP.

TODAY, JOLIET IS LIKE A BIG, OPEN-AIR ART MUSEUM.

THERE ARE MORE THAN 100 MURALS, MOSAICS, SCULPTURES AND FOUNTAINS ALL OVER TOWN.

THE WORKS, WHICH BEGAN GOING UP IN 1991, CELEBRATE THE HERITAGE OF THE MANY ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE COMMUNITY, AND MANY ASPECTS OF JOLIET HISTORY.

THE PROJECT IS A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY OF JOLIET AND A GROUP OF LOCAL ARTISTS CALLED THE FRIENDS OF COMMUNITY PUBLIC ART.

ONE OF THE WORKS BY ACCLAIMED MURALIST ALEJANDRO ROMERO IS IN THE RESTORED UNION STATION.

PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS RESTORED ARCHITECTURAL TREASURE IN JOLIET IS THE RIALTO SQUARE THEATRE.

IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE PROLIFIC MOVIE PALACE ARCHITECTS, RAPP AND RAPP, AND IT OPENED IN 1926.

THE GRAND HALL IS MODELED ON THE HALL OF MIRRORS AT VERSAILLES IN FRANCE.

THE ROTUNDA WAS INSPIRED BY THE PANTHEON IN ROME.

THERE ARE NO FEWER THAN SEVEN HISTORICAL STYLES USED IN THE DESIGN INCLUDING BYZANTINE, GREEK AND VENETIAN.

WHEN LIBERACE CAME TO PERFORM HERE HE SUPPOSEDLY DECLARED, "AT LAST, A THEATRE TO MATCH MY WARDROBE!"

THE RIALTO HAS 200 CHANDELIERS AND LIGHT FIXTURES OF HAND-CUT CZECHOSLOVAKIAN CRYSTAL INCLUDING WHAT THEY CLAIM IS THE LARGEST HAND CUT CRYSTAL CHANDELIER IN THE UNITED STATES.

IT WEIGHS TWO-AND-A-HALF TONS AND HAS SOME 250 LIGHT BULBS.

TWICE A YEAR IT'S LOWERED TO THE GROUND FOR CLEANING.

THE JOB TAKES EIGHT TO TEN HOURS.

THE RIALTO WAS RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL SPLENDOR IN 1981 AT A COST OF $7 MILLION.

IT'S NOW A PERFORMING ARTS CENTER PRESENTING TOURING MUSICALS AND CONCERTS BY BIG NAME ENTERTAINERS.

NOW IT'S TIME TO START THE THIRD AND FINAL LEG OF OUR TOUR.

THIS LEG TAKES US BACK TOWARD CHICAGO.

THE PROBLEM IS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH OF SEVERAL HISTORIC PATHWAYS WE COULD FOLLOW!

FOR EXAMPLE, WE COULD FOLLOW SOME REMNANTS OF THE LEGENDARY ROUTE 66.

ROUTE 66 WAS THE FIRST HIGHWAY TO CONNECT CHICAGO WITH LOS ANGELES.

IT OPENED IN 1926, PASSING RIGHT THROUGH JOLIET.

THE ROUTE 66 ASSOCIATION PROMOTED IT AS "THE MAIN STREET OF AMERICA."

AUTHOR JOHN STEINBECK CALLED IT "THE MOTHER ROAD."

THE HIGHWAY'S THEME SONG WAS COMPOSED BY BOBBY TROUPE ON A ROAD TRIP IN 1946.

HE WAS FRESH FROM SERVING IN WORLD WAR II.

AND HE WAS ON THE ROAD HEADING TO CALIFORNIA WITH HIS WIFE TO SEE IF HE COULD MAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD AS A SONGWRITER.

SHE SUGGESTED THE LINE "GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66."

BY THE TIME THEY REACHED CALIFORNIA MOST OF THE SONG WAS WRITTEN.

♪ IF YOU EVEN PLAN ♪ ♪ TO MOTOR WEST... ♪ AN ECLECTIC MIX OF ROADSIDE BUSINESSES LINED ROUTE 66-- DINERS, GAS STATIONS, MOTELS AND KITSCHY TOURIST TRAPS.

♪ GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66.

♪ AMONG THEM WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST DAIRY QUEEN LOCATED IN JOLIET.

IT OPENED ON CHICAGO STREET IN JOLIET IN 1940 AND IT DISPENSED A NEW KIND OF FROZEN TREAT, WHICH WE NOW CALL SOFT-SERVE ICE CREAM.

WITH THE RISE OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, ROUTE 66 BECAME OBSOLETE.

IT WAS DECOMMISSIONED IN THE MID-1980S.

SO WE COULD FOLLOW ROUTE 66 AND ITS SUCCESSOR I-55 BACK TOWARD CHICAGO FOR THE FINAL LEG OF OUR JOURNEY, OR WE COULD TAKE METRA'S HERITAGE CORRIDOR TRAIN LINE.

BUT WE'VE ALREADY TRAVELED BY ROAD AND RAIL ON THIS TOUR.

SO INSTEAD LET'S TRAVEL BY WATER!

[MUSIC] JOLIET IS ON THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY.

THE WATERWAY STRETCHES ACROSS THE STATE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO CHICAGO.

WE'RE HITCHING A RIDE ON THE TOWBOAT ALBERT C. IT'S PART OF THE FLEET THAT BELONGS TO ILLINOIS MARINE TOWING.

THAT'S CAPTAIN BILL RUSSELL AT THE HELM.

THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY, IS SO BUSY WITH BARGES AND BOATERS THAT JOLIET'S MOVABLE BRIDGES ARE MANNED 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK, YEAR ROUND.

[MUSIC] SOME OF THE BARGE TOWS THAT PASS THROUGH HERE HAVE COME ALL THE WAY UP THE MISSISSIPPI FROM NEW ORLEANS.

THE BIGGEST ONES ARE THREE BARGES WIDE AND UP TO A THOUSAND FEET LONG NOT INCLUDING THE TOWBOAT!

WHEN THIS CANAL, THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY OPENED IN THE EARLY 1930S, IT WAS FOLLOWING THE PATH OF A MUCH EARLIER CANAL COMPLETED IN 1848.

AND IT'S NOT AN EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT THAT EARLIER CANAL, THE ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL, GAVE BIRTH TO CHICAGO.

VIRTUALLY EVERY TOWN WE VISIT BETWEEN HERE AND CHICAGO WAS SHAPED IN SOME WAY BY THE OLD I & M CANAL AND THE PEOPLE WHO CAME TO BUILD IT.

THERE ARE ONLY A FEW SCATTERED REMNANTS OF THE OLD ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL STILL IN EXISTENCE HERE ALONG THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY BETWEEN JOLIET AND CHICAGO.

BUT YOU CAN GET A VERY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT THE OLD CANAL LOOKED LIKE IF YOU GO ABOUT ELEVEN MILES DOWNSTREAM TO CHANNAHON, ILLINOIS.

THERE YOU'LL FIND A RESTORED STRETCH OF THE ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL THAT INCLUDES SOME OLD LOCKS IN CHANNAHON STATE PARK.

THE LOCK TENDER LIVED ADJACENT TO THE LOCK AND COULD BE CALLED UPON TO OPEN THE GATES AT ANY HOUR OF THE DAY OR NIGHT.

THE WOODEN CANAL BARGES WERE TINY BY TODAY'S STANDARDS AND THE EARLY ONES DIDN'T HAVE ENGINES.

THEY WERE PULLED BY MULES.

THE MULE DRIVERS WERE TEENAGE BOYS KNOWN FOR THEIR SWEARING, DRINKING AND FIGHTING.

THE IDEA FOR THE CANAL CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE YEAR 1673.

THAT'S WHEN NATIVE AMERICANS SHOWED EXPLORERS MARQUETTE AND JOLLIET A SHORTCUT TO GET FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO LAKE MICHIGAN.

THEY LED THEM UP THE ILLINOIS RIVER AND THE DES PLAINES RIVER UNTIL THEY REACHED A MUDDY PORTAGE LOCATED ABOUT WHERE THE SOUTHWEST SUBURB OF LYONS IS TODAY.

THEY SLOGGED ACROSS THE PORTAGE TO THE CHICAGO RIVER AND FROM THERE, IT WAS AN EASY PADDLE TO LAKE MICHIGAN.

JOLLIET COULD SEE RIGHT AWAY THAT IF A CANAL WERE DUG ACROSS THAT SOGGY STRETCH OF LAND, IT WOULD CREATE AN UNINTERRUPTED WATERWAY ALL THE WAY FROM THE EAST, THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES TO THE GULF OF MEXICO.

IN THE EARLY 1800S, A CANAL COMMISSION WAS FORMED AND SURVEYORS PLATTED SEVERAL CITIES ALONG THE CANAL ROUTE INCLUDING CHICAGO, LOCKPORT AND OTTAWA.

YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT.

THE CITY OF CHICAGO IS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE CANAL.

ON JULY 4, 1836 GROUND WAS BROKEN BEFORE A JUBILANT CROWD AT CANAL STREET NEAR THE PRESENT-DAY CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD OF BRIDGEPORT.

CANAL COMMISSIONER WILLIAM B. ARCHER, TURNED THE FIRST SHOVEL OF EARTH.

IN APRIL 1848, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY A SHIPMENT OF CARGO FROM NEW ORLEANS ARRIVED AT THE DOCKS IN BUFFALO BY TRAVELING UP THE MISSISSIPPI, THROUGH THE CANAL AND ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES .

THE LITTLE FRONTIER TOWN OF CHICAGO BECAME THE HUB OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INLAND TRADE ROUTE IN THE COUNTRY.

SOON IT WAS THE FASTEST GROWING CITY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

IN ADDITION TO CARGO, THE CANAL CARRIED PASSENGERS ON WHAT WERE CALLED PACKET BOATS, BUT WHEN THE ROCK ISLAND RAILROAD WAS COMPLETED IN 1854 PASSENGER SERVICE ON THE CANAL DRIED UP.

FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS, MILLIONS OF TONS OF GRAIN, LUMBER, STONE AND OTHER BULK COMMODITIES TRAVELED UP AND DOWN THE CANAL.

THE CANAL WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT IT SURPRISED NAYSAYERS BY PAYING OFF ITS DEBT.

AS CHICAGO GREW INTO THE NATION'S RAILROAD HUB, THE CANAL'S DAYS WERE NUMBERED.

THE DECLINE BEGAN IN THE 1880S.

BY 1900 THE CANAL WAS IN DISREPAIR AND IT WAS USED MOSTLY BY PLEASURE BOATERS.

THE GREAT WATER ROUTE BETWEEN LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE MISSISSIPPI WAS FOR THE MOST PART DEFUNCT, BUT ITS REBIRTH WAS ALREADY IN THE WORKS.

[BOOM] CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN THE LATE 1800S ON A NEW AND MUCH DEEPER CANAL FOLLOWING THE SAME PATH AS THE OLD ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL.

THE NEW CANAL WASN'T BUILT FOR SHIPPING.

IT WAS BUILT TO DIVERT CHICAGO'S SEWAGE AWAY FROM LAKE MICHIGAN AND SEND IT DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI INSTEAD.

WHEN IT OPENED, IT ACTUALLY REVERSED THE FLOW OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.

THE SANITARY CANAL ONLY RAN FROM CHICAGO TO LOCKPORT.

THERE THE WATER AND SEWAGE WERE DISCHARGED INTO THE DES PLAINES RIVER THROUGH THESE HUGE CONTROLLING GATES.

THE GATES COULD BE RAISED TO KEEP THE CANAL FROM OVERFLOWING DURING STORMS.

THESE GATES ARE STILL OPERABLE TODAY AND ARE SOMETIMES OPENED TO HELP MANAGE WATER LEVELS IN THE CANAL, FLOODING THE RIVER BED BELOW.

PRETTY COOL, HUH?

IN 1933, NEW LOCKS AND DAMS WERE OPENED DOWNSTREAM CONNECTING THE SANITARY CANAL WITH THE ILLINOIS RIVER AND CREATING THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY THAT USHERED IN A NEW ERA OF COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION BETWEEN LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE MISSISSIPPI.

[MUSIC] TO THIS DAY THE CANAL IS AT THE CENTER OF A DRAMATIC INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR THAT'S NOW ALSO LINED WITH RAILROAD TRACKS AND SUPERHIGHWAYS.

[MUSIC] HEADING UP THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY WE COME TO CREST HILL.

IT'S A COMMUNITY THAT WAS HARD HIT BY A FEROCIOUS TORNADO IN 1990 THAT ALSO DEVASTATED NEIGHBORING PLAINFIELD.

IT CLAIMED 29 LIVES.

THE FIRST TORNADO WARNING WASN'T ISSUED UNTIL 15 MINUTES AFTER THE STORM HAD ALREADY RAVAGED PLAINFIELD AND CREST HILL.

THE STORM DESTROYED HUNDREDS OF HOMES.

IT SENT VEHICLES AND THEIR PASSENGERS FLYING INTO THE AIR AND EVEN STRIPPED PAVEMENT OFF ROADS.

PLAINFIELD HIGH SCHOOL TOOK A DIRECT HIT.

SCHOOL WASN'T IN SESSION BUT SPORTS TEAMS WERE PRACTICING AND TEACHERS WERE IN THEIR CLASSROOMS PREPARING FOR THE START OF SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY.

SEVERAL FACULTY AND STAFF WERE KILLED.

ST. MARY'S IMMACULATE CHURCH AND SCHOOL WAS ALSO HIT, KILLING THREE INCLUDING THE PRINCIPAL.

ONE ACCOUNT I READ SAID A CAR WAS CATAPULTED INTO THE CHURCH STEEPLE.

THE TRAGEDY PROMPTED IMPROVEMENTS IN EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS.

TODAY, IT'S FAR LESS LIKELY THAT SUCH A POWERFUL TORNADO COULD STRIKE WITH SO LITTLE WARNING ACCORDING TO WGN METEOROLOGIST TOM SKILLING.

THE TORNADO CERTAINLY DIDN'T DISCOURAGE PEOPLE FROM MOVING TO PLAINFIELD.

IN THE TEN YEARS FOLLOWING THE TWISTER, PLAINFIELD'S POPULATION NEARLY TRIPLED TO 13,000, AND FIVE YEARS LATER THAT NUMBER HAD MORE THAN DOUBLED TO 30,000.

BY 2006, PLAINFIELD WAS THE FASTEST GROWING COMMUNITY IN THE CHICAGO AREA ACCORDING TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

BUT UNLIKE MANY BOOMTOWNS ON THE SUBURBAN FRINGE, PLAINFIELD HAS A LONG HISTORY.

IT WAS THE FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLEMENT IN WILL COUNTY, DATING BACK TO THE 1820S.

AN EARLY INDUSTRY IN PLAINFIELD WAS QUARRYING.

TODAY, ONE OF THOSE QUARRIES IS LAKE RENWICK.

IT'S A MAJOR BIRD WATCHING SITE BECAUSE IT'S ONE OF THE STATE'S LARGEST ROOKERIES FOR EGRETS, CORMORANTS AND HERONS INCLUDING THE ENDANGERED BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON.

WILDLIFE MANAGERS HERE HAVE MADE THE PLACE MORE INVITING BY INSTALLING ARTIFICIAL NESTING PLATFORMS WITH ROOM FOR 500 NESTS.

NOW LET'S CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY UP THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY TOWARD CHICAGO.

AS WE APPROACH LOCKPORT WE'RE GREETED BY A VERY DRAMATIC SIGHT.

IT LOOKS LIKE A LARGE BUILDING IS BLOCKING OUR PATH!

IT'S ACTUALLY A DAM CALLED THE LOCKPORT POWERHOUSE BUILT IN 1907.

IT HOLDS BACK THE WATER THAT RUSHES OUT OF LAKE MICHIGAN AND INTO THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL UPSTREAM.

AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WHEN THE CANAL OPENED IN 1900, IT REVERSED THE FLOW OF THE CHICAGO RIVER DIVERTING SEWAGE AWAY FROM LAKE MICHIGAN.

OVER THE YEARS, OTHER GREAT LAKES STATES HAVE FILED MANY LAWSUITS REQUIRING CHICAGO TO LIMIT HOW MUCH WATER IS WITHDRAWN FROM LAKE MICHIGAN AND SENT DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.

GATES IN THIS DAM ARE PART OF A SYSTEM THAT CONTROLS THAT.

TRUE TO ITS NAME, THE POWERHOUSE ALSO GENERATES POWER.

THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL GENERATORS FROM 1907.

THEY'RE NOT IN USE ANYMORE, BUT THEY ONCE GENERATED THE ELECTRICITY FOR CHICAGO'S PARK SYSTEM VIA LONG ELECTRICAL LINES STRETCHING SOME 30 MILES BACK TO THE CITY.

THEY ALSO ONCE GENERATED POWER FOR JOLIET PRISON.

TODAY, THE POWERHOUSE HAS TWO MODERN GENERATORS.

THEY SUPPLY A TOTAL OF 13 MEGAWATTS.

THAT'S ENOUGH TO POWER ABOUT 4,500 HOMES.

THIS IS THE ONLY HYDROELECTRIC DAM IN THE CHICAGO REGION.

UP HERE IN THE OLD CONTROL ROOM YOU CAN STILL SEE THE KNOBS AND THE GAUGES THAT WERE ONCE USED TO CONTROL THE ELECTRICAL GENERATORS AND ALSO TO OPERATE THE HUGE GATES THAT REGULATE THE LEVEL OF WATER IN THE CANAL.

TODAY, IT'S ALL DONE WITH A COMPUTER AND A MOUSE.

ADJACENT TO THE POWERHOUSE ARE TWO LOCKS.

THIS ONE WITH TOWERING WOODEN GATES WAS BUILT IN 1907.

IT WAS JUST BIG ENOUGH FOR THE OLD I & M CANAL BOATS TO SQUEEZE THROUGH.

IT WAS USED WHILE THE MUCH LARGER ILLINOIS WATERWAY WAS STILL BEING COMPLETED.

IT WAS TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE WHEN THIS MUCH, MUCH BIGGER ONE OPENED AS PART OF THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY IN 1933.

IT LIFTS GIANT BARGES AND THEIR TOWBOATS TO THE HIGHER WATER LEVEL OF THE CANAL UPSTREAM, AND LOWERS VESSELS GOING DOWNSTREAM.

IT'S LIKE A GIANT FREIGHT ELEVATOR ABOUT THE SIZE OF HALF A CITY BLOCK.

[MUSIC] THERE'S A TOTAL OF 163 FOOT DROP IN ELEVATION FROM CHICAGO DOWN TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

AND THERE'S A PARTICULARLY BIG DROP RIGHT HERE AT LOCKPORT.

ON ONE SIDE OF THIS LOCK THE WATER IS 40 FEET HIGHER THAN IT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE.

IT'S GOING TO TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 20 MINUTES TO A HALF AN HOUR TO FILL UP THIS CHAMBER WITH WATER SO WE CAN CONTINUE UPSTREAM.

SO WE'LL BE HERE FOR A WHILE.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] PASSING THROUGH THE LOCK, WE CONTINUE UPSTREAM TO LOCKPORT.

YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT THIS WATERWAY IS BUILT ALONG THE PATH OF THE OLDER ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL.

THESE SCENIC RUINS IN LOCKPORT ARE THE REMAINS OF I & M CANAL LOCK #1.

MUCH OF THE CANAL'S HISTORY IS PRESERVED HERE.

IN FACT, LOCKPORT BILLS ITSELF AS "THE OLD CANAL TOWN."

THIS LOVELY WALKING PATH FOLLOWS A REMNANT OF THE CANAL RIGHT THROUGH THE HEART OF LOCKPORT.

IN ONE PLACE, IT PASSES THIS OLD OPEN AREA THAT'S NOW BEEN FILLED WITH HISTORIC BUILDINGS.

TODAY IT'S CALLED THE PIONEER SETTLEMENT.

IN ITS HEYDAY THIS WAS THE PUBLIC LANDING.

THE PUBLIC LANDING WAS ONCE JAMMED WITH FARMERS BRINGING WAGONLOADS OF GRAIN TO BE SHIPPED ON CANAL BOATS.

AT ONE END OF THE PUBLIC LANDING WAS ONE OF THE FIRST GRAIN ELEVATORS IN THE COUNTRY.

IN THE CANAL'S HEYDAY, THIS BUILDING WAS A MAJOR HUB OF ACTIVITY.

HIRAM NORTON BUILT IT AND IT HELPED MAKE HIM ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST CANAL ENTREPRENEURS.

IT STILL HAS DOCKING RINGS ON THE WALLS WHERE BARGES USED TO TIE UP.

TODAY IT HOUSES RESIDENTIAL LOFTS, COMMERCIAL SPACE AND THE ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM, WHICH SHOWCASES ILLINOIS ARTISTS AND HAS A CANAL EXHIBIT.

AT THE OTHER END OF THE PUBLIC LANDING, THE OLD GAYLORD BUILDING FROM 1838 IS NOW A VISITOR'S CENTER.

IT'S A FORMER CANAL WAREHOUSE, RESTORED IN 1987.

IT'S NOW OWNED BY THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION.

THE OLD CANAL HEADQUARTERS BUILDING FROM 1837 IS STILL STANDING.

IT'S NOW THE I & M CANAL MUSEUM.

IN RECENT YEARS, SUBURBAN SPRAWL HAS COME TO LOCKPORT.

BUT ONE PART OF THE CITY REMAINS UNTOUCHED.

LOCKPORT PRAIRIE IS A SURVIVING REMNANT OF WHAT'S CALLED A DOLOMITE PRAIRIE.

STICK A SHOVEL IN THE GROUND HERE AND YOU'LL HIT SOLID ROCK.

THE LIMESTONE CLOSE TO THE SURFACE HERE CREATES IDEAL GROWING CONDITIONS FOR SOME VERY RARE PLANTS.

AMONG THEM, THE ENDANGERED LAKESIDE DAISY.

THEY'RE THRIVING HERE, WHICH IS A GOOD THING, BECAUSE THEY'RE FOUND IN ONLY A HANDFUL OF LOCATIONS IN THREE MIDWESTERN STATES AND CANADA; AND IN SOME PLACES, QUARRYING HAS ALMOST ELIMINATED THEIR HABITAT.

LET'S CONTINUE UPSTREAM OF LOCKPORT IN THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL.

[MUSIC] NEAR ROMEOVILLE WE COME TO A SPOT WHERE YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO FALL IN THIS WATER, EVEN IF IT WERE CLEAN... YOU'D GET QUITE A SHOCK.

LITERALLY!

A STRETCH OF THE WATER HERE HAS AN ELECTRICAL CHARGE RUNNING THROUGH IT.

IT'S AN EXPERIMENTAL INVISIBLE FENCE THAT WAS INSTALLED TO TRY TO WARD OFF A MAJOR THREAT TO THE GREAT LAKES, THE DREADED ASIAN CARP.

THIS AMAZING FOOTAGE OF THESE MONSTER FISH WAS SHOT DOWNRIVER NEAR PEORIA.

THE FISH HAVE BEEN WORKING THEIR WAY UP THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE ILLINOIS WATERWAY SINCE A FLOOD ALLOWED THEM TO ESCAPE FROM FISH FARMS IN THE SOUTH.

IF THEY MAKE IT INTO THE GREAT LAKES, IT'LL BE A CATASTROPHE FOR THE BALANCE OF NATURE THERE.

THE FISH WERE IMPORTED, SO THEY HAVE NO NATURAL PREDATORS.

THEY CONSUME UP TO 40% OF THEIR HEFTY BODY WEIGHT PER DAY IN PLANKTON, SAPPING THE FOOD SUPPLY FOR OTHER FISH, AND THEY REPRODUCE AT AN ASTONISHING RATE.

EACH FEMALE CAN CARRY AS MANY AS TWO MILLION EGGS.

SO FAR, NO ASIAN CARP HAVE BEEN SPOTTED CLOSER THAN 20 MILES DOWNSTREAM OF THE ELECTRIC FENCE, BUT AS OF 2006 THE EXPERIMENTAL BARRIER WAS REACHING THE END OF ITS USABLE LIFE.

THE FIRST OF TWO MUCH MORE POWERFUL FISH FENCES HAD BEEN COMPLETED, BUT IT WASN'T ONLINE YET BECAUSE OF FEARS ABOUT ITS DANGER TO BOATS AND BARGES.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SECOND BARRIER WAS STALLED DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS.

STILL TO COME... HOW ROMEO AND JULIET BECAME ROMEOVILLE AND JOLIET.

SACRED SITES IN LEMONT.

CHICAGO'S MOST FAMOUS GHOST STORY, RESURRECTION MARY, AND THE STILL-SWINGING BALLROOM THAT INSPIRED HER STORY.

THE PLACE WHERE UPS SORTS MORE THAN A MILLION PACKAGES A DAY.

A TRIP 30 STORIES UNDERGROUND TO VISIT THE DEEP TUNNEL.

WHY THIS TRAIN HIT THIS CAR-- AND MUCH MUCH MORE!

OUR NEXT STOP IS ROMEOVILLE.

HERE AMID THE OIL REFINERIES AND RAILROAD LINES IS A LIVING REMINDER OF THE 1700S, WHEN FRENCH FUR TRADERS WERE OFTEN SEEN PADDLING THEIR CANOES ALONG THE DES PLAINES RIVER.

THIS IS ISLE A LA CACHE, AN 80-ACRE ISLAND THAT GOT ITS NAME BECAUSE A FUR TRADER IS SAID TO HAVE BURIED OR "CACHED" HIS PELTS AND PROVISIONS HERE AFTER BEING WARNED OF DANGERS DOWNSTREAM.

THERE'S A RE-CREATION OF A TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN LONGHOUSE ON THE ISLAND, AND A MUSEUM THAT LETS YOU RE-LIVE THE DAYS OF THE FUR TRADE.

IT WAS UNDERGOING A MAJOR RENOVATION WHEN THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN IN 2006.

DURING THE 1700S, FUR TRADERS CALLED VOYAGEURS PADDLED THOUSANDS OF MILES BETWEEN THEIR BASES IN CANADA AND REMOTE REGIONS NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE GREAT LAKES.

SOME OF THEIR CANOES WERE 40 FEET LONG AND CARRIED TONS OF CARGO.

WHEN THEY WERE FORCED TO PORTAGE, SOME VOYAGEURS WOULD CARRY THE CANOES AND THE REST WOULD CARRY TWO 90-POUND CARGO BUNDLES APIECE-- SOMETIMES FOR MILES.

BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.

THE DEMAND FOR SOFT, WATERPROOF BEAVER HATS AND OTHER FURS IN EUROPE MADE THE TRADE VERY PROFITABLE.

BEAVER WAS EVEN CALLED BROWN GOLD.

IN LATER YEARS, SCENIC ISLE A LA CACHE AND A NEARBY FORMER QUARRY CALLED ROMEO BEACH BECAME RESORT DESTINATIONS FOR WEALTHY CHICAGOANS.

THANKFULLY, THIS WAS UPSTREAM OF THE POINT WHERE THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL DUMPED CHICAGO'S SEWAGE INTO THE DES PLAINES RIVER.

IN ITS EARLY DAYS, ROMEOVILLE WAS ONE HALF OF A PAIR OF STAR-CROSSSED LOVERS.

ORIGINALLY IT WAS JUST CALLED ROMEO BECAUSE THE CANAL COMMISSIONERS WHO NAMED IT IN 1835 THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A NICE PARTNER FOR THAT OTHER CANAL TOWN JULIET.

WHO SAYS BUREAUCRATS DON'T HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR.

WHEN JULIET CHANGED ITS NAME TO JOLIET IN 1845, ROMEO RESIDENTS ADOPTED THE NAME ROMEOVILLE.

LEWIS UNIVERSITY LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF SMALL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES.

BUT ONE OUT OF EVERY TEN STUDENTS HERE IS MAJORING IN SOMETHING PRETTY UNUSUAL.

THEY'RE TRAINING TO BE PILOTS!

PILOTS TRAINED HERE FLY FOR VIRTUALLY EVERY MAJOR U.S.

AIRLINE.

AND THIS PROGRAM IS NO UPSTART.

THE UNIVERSITY BUILT ITS OWN AIRPORT IN 1939.

AND I'M TRYING TO AIM FOR IT RIGHT NOW IN THIS SIMULATOR.

HERE WE GO.

THERE IT IS.

DURING WORLD WAR II THE U.S. NAVY TOOK OVER THE CAMPUS AND TRAINED NEARLY 1,200 PILOTS AND FLIGHT INSTRUCTORS THERE.

[PLANE ENGINE REVVING] TODAY, THE JOLIET REGIONAL PORT DISTRICT OWNS AND RUNS THE AIRPORT.

[PLANE ENGINE REVVING] [MUSIC] BEFORE WE CONTINUE UP THE CANAL I COULDN'T RESIST TAKING A LITTLE SIDE TRIP TO THE NORTH FOR ONE OF THE FAMOUS CHICKEN DINNERS HERE AT WHITE FENCE FARM.

I'M GONNA NEED A DOGGIE BAG!

IRREPRESSIBLE OWNER DORIS HASTERT OPERATED IT FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY UNTIL SHE DIED IN 2006 AT AGE 93.

SHE WAS GREETING GUESTS AT THE DOOR UNTIL THREE WEEKS BEFORE HER DEATH.

THE RESTAURANT HAD JUST TWO DINING ROOMS WHEN HASTERT AND HER HUSBAND BOUGHT IT FROM COAL BARON STUYVESANT PEABODY IN 1954.

EVERY WINTER FOR TEN YEARS THEY WOULD CLOSE AND BUILD ANOTHER DINING ROOM.

TODAY, IT SEATS OVER A THOUSAND PEOPLE.

IT ALSO HAS A PETTING ZOO AND AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA.

AND YES, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT IS RELATED TO THE FAMILY.

DORIS WAS HIS AUNT.

WHITE FENCE FARM HAS SEEN A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT ON ITS DOORSTEP IN THE LAST HALF-CENTURY.

FOR EXAMPLE, THIS COMMUNITY BOLINGBROOK WAS JUST SPARSELY SETTLED FARMLAND IN 1954 WHEN THE RESTAURANT OPENED NEARBY; BUT THEN THE STEVENSON EXPRESSWAY CAME THROUGH, AND IN JUST TEN YEARS BOLINGBROOK MUSHROOMED INTO THE SECOND-LARGEST COMMUNITY IN WILL COUNTY AFTER JOLIET.

IN MANY PEOPLE'S MINDS BOLINGBROOK WILL FOREVER BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORT LIVED INDOOR THEME PARK OLD CHICAGO CAPTURED HERE IN BRIAN DE PALMA'S 1978 THRILLER "THE FURY."

WHEN IT OPENED IN 1975 IT WAS BILLED AS THE FIRST EVER MARRIAGE BETWEEN A SHOPPING MALL AND AN AMUSEMENT PARK.

BUT EVEN HOLLYWOOD COULDN'T HELP THE MALL GENERATE MUCH PUBLIC INTEREST AND IT SUFFERED FROM MANAGEMENT AND MONEY PROBLEMS TOO.

IT CLOSED AFTER JUST FIVE YEARS IN 1980.

DUE TO POLITICAL WRANGLING, THE DERELICT HULK WASN'T TORN DOWN FOR ANOTHER SIX YEARS!

AT CHIKA INTERNATIONAL FOOD MARKET IN BOLINGBROOK YOU'LL FIND THE CHICAGO AREA'S BIGGEST SELECTION OF PRODUCTS FROM THE AFRICAN COUNTRY OF GHANA.

THE LARGEST GHANAIAN COMMUNITY IN THE CHICAGO SUBURBS IS LOCATED IN BOLINGBROOK ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO.

THERE HAVE EVEN BEEN GHANAIAN FEATURE FILMS SHOT PARTLY IN BOLINGBROOK.

ONE-- A LOW BUDGET DRAMA CALLED OMAMA: ROYAL BLOOD-- IS ABOUT A GHANAIAN PRINCE WHO IS PICKED TO SAVE HIS WAR TORN VILLAGE.

BUT HE GETS SEDUCED BY LIFE IN THE AMERICAN SUBURBS AND BREAKS HIS PROMISE, WITH TRAGIC RESULTS.

[GUN SHOTS] NOW LET'S TRAVEL FROM AFRICA TO INDIA.

TO DO THAT WE RETURN TO THE CANAL AND SAIL ON TO LEMONT.

THAT'S WHERE WE'LL FIND THE HINDU TEMPLE OF GREATER CHICAGO, WHICH OPENED IN 1986.

THE LOCAL HINDU LEADERS WHO PROPOSED BUILDING THE TEMPLE IN 1977 HAD A CHALLENGE ON THEIR HANDS.

THEY WANTED THE TEMPLE TO SERVE ALL HINDUS, SO THEY HAD TO COME UP WITH A DESIGN THAT ENCOMPASSED A WIDE VARIETY OF REGIONAL STYLES.

IN FACT, THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO TEMPLES HERE, BUILT BY MASTER ARTISANS AND SCULPTORS FROM INDIA.

THE RAMA TEMPLE WITH ITS 80-FOOT TRADITIONAL TOWER IS BUILT IN THE STYLE OF THE TENTH CENTURY CHOLA DYNASTY.

THE GANESHA-SHIVA-DURGA TEMPLE IS IN THE STYLE OF THE FIRST CENTURY KALINGA DYNASTY.

THE TEMPLE HAS THE LARGEST STATUE OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA OUTSIDE OF INDIA.

IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, SWAMI VIVEKANANDA BECAME AN EARLY ADVOCATE OF SPREADING AWARENESS OF HINDUISM IN AMERICA.

INDIANS AREN'T THE ONLY ONES WHO HAVE A HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN LEMONT.

THE LITHUANIAN WORLD CENTER IS ALSO LOCATED HERE.

AFTER WORLD WAR II LITHUANIANS WHO HAD FLED THE SOVIET UNION BANDED TOGETHER AND FORMED AN ORGANIZATION TO PRESERVE THEIR CULTURE CALLED THE LITHUANIAN WORLD COMMUNITY.

THEIR CHARTER SAYS, "A LITHUANIAN REMAINS "A LITHUANIAN EVERYWHERE AND ALWAYS."

THE LEMONT CHAPTER OF THAT ORGANIZATION AND OTHER LOCAL LITHUANIAN GROUPS ARE HOUSED HERE AT THE LITHUANIAN WORLD CENTER.

[MUSIC] THE CENTER HAS A CHAPEL.

THERE'S ALSO A RICH COLLECTION OF THE VISUAL TREASURES OF LITHUANIAN CULTURE.

INCLUDING LITHUANIAN WOOD SCULPTURE-- A HIGHLY REGARDED FOLK TRADITION.

[MUSIC] CHICAGO AREA LITHUANIANS ARE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF VALDAS ADAMKUS.

HE LIVED IN THIS AREA FOR MANY YEARS.

BUT HE RETURNED HOME AND WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF LITHUANIA IN 1998, EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE COUNTRY BECAME THE FIRST TO FREE ITSELF FROM SOVIET RULE.

THE BUILDERS OF THE I & M CANAL RAN INTO BIG PROBLEMS IN LEMONT.

BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A BOON FOR THE VILLAGE.

WORKERS DIGGING THE CANAL WITH PICKS AND SHOVELS RAN INTO SOLID STONE VERY NEAR THE SURFACE.

IT MADE THEIR WORK MISERABLE AND SOMETIMES DEADLY BECAUSE THEY HAD TO USE EXPLOSIVES TO CUT THROUGH THE CHANNEL HERE.

BUT LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS QUICKLY STARTED QUARRYING THE STONE.

BACK THEN THIS SETTLEMENT WAS CALLED ATHENS.

SO THE LIMESTONE WAS CALLED "ATHENS MARBLE."

SOME OF THE QUARRIES WERE LOCATED RIGHT NEXT TO THE CANAL SO THE HEAVY STONE COULD BE EASILY TRANSFERRED TO BARGES.

SOME OF THOSE FORMER QUARRIES ARE NOW LAKES.

MANY OF LEMONT'S QUARRY WORKERS LIVED IN A NEIGHBORHOOD CLUSTERED AROUND THE CHURCH OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS.

[MUSIC] IT STARTED IN 1882 WHEN THE LOCAL CATHOLIC CHURCH BOUGHT LAND FOR A HOUSE OF WORSHIP TO SERVE THE POLES WORKING IN LEMONT'S QUARRIES.

THEY SOLD OFF SOME OF THAT LAND TO LOCAL POLISH PEOPLE WHO BUILT HOUSES SO THEY COULD LIVE NEAR THE CHURCH.

THIS FORMER METHODIST CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1861 FROM MISMATCHED SCRAPS OF LOCAL STONE CALLED TAILINGS.

AN IDEALISTIC YOUNG PASTOR FROM THIS CHURCH, REVEREND CLANCY, FOUGHT A BATTLE TO CLEAN UP LEMONT IN THE 1890S; ESPECIALLY A NOTORIOUS STRIP OF MORE THAN A HUNDRED BROTHELS, GAMBLING HOUSES AND TAVERNS DOWN BY THE CANAL KNOWN AS "SMOKEY ROW."

[MUSIC] BUSINESS BOOMED THERE DURING THE BUILDING OF THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL.

THE VILLAGE TOLERATED "SMOKEY ROW" BECAUSE IT BROUGHT IN HUGE TAX REVENUES.

IN FACT, SOME OF CLANCY'S OWN CONGREGATION THOUGHT OF HIM AS A TROUBLEMAKER.

HE EVENTUALLY GOT A BODYGUARD.

THE VILLAGE HALL WAS BUILT WITH MONEY COLLECTED FROM SMOKEY ROW BUSINESSES.

[MUSIC] LIKE NEARBY LOCKPORT, LEMONT STILL HAS MANY "CANAL-ERA" BUILDINGS IN ITS HISTORIC DOWNTOWN, AND THERE'S STILL A CANAL STREET IN LEMONT REMINDING US OF THE TOWN'S ORIGINS.

COG HILL COUNTRY CLUB IN LEMONT WAS THE HOME OF THE PGA'S WESTERN OPEN FROM 1991 TO 2006.

LIKE THE COURSE WE SAW IN MIDLOTHIAN, THE NATURAL GLACIAL TERRAIN HERE WAS IDEALLY SUITED FOR GOLF.

THE NAME OF THE COURSE WAS CREATED BY SPLITTING THE LAST NAME OF ITS FOUNDING FAMILY "COGHILL" INTO TWO WORDS.

ACROSS THE CANAL FROM LEMONT IS ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY.

IT'S A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF ENRICO FERMI AND THE OTHER SCIENTISTS WHO FIRST SPLIT THE ATOM.

THEIR PIONEERING WORK WAS A KEY COMPONENT OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, THE TOP SECRET WORLD WAR II EFFORT TO BUILD THE ATOM BOMB.

FERMI'S TEAM ACHIEVED THE FIRST EVER SELF-SUSTAINING NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION ON AN UNUSED SQUASH COURT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO USING A MAKESHIFT NUCLEAR REACTOR DUBBED CHICAGO PILE ONE OR CP-1, BECAUSE BASICALLY IT WAS A PILE OF GRAPHITE AND URANIUM.

TO CONTINUE THEIR WORK THEY DECIDED TO MOVE A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE CITY.

THEY BUILT THEIR NEXT REACTORS IN WHAT IS NOW THE PALOS FOREST PRESERVE.

THE PLACE WAS CODE NAMED "SITE A" BECAUSE THE FOREST PRESERVE WAS CALLED ARGONNE BACK THEN.

BY THE TIME THE MODERNIST-LOOKING CP-5 WAS BUILT IN THE EARLY 1950S, THE LAB HAD MOVED TO ITS PRESENT SITE.

[MUSIC] THE TECHNOLOGIES BEHIND MOST MODERN DAY COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR REACTORS WERE PIONEERED AND TESTED AT ARGONNE.

ARGONNE ITSELF HAS NEVER BEEN A WEAPONS LABORATORY.

TODAY THEIR WORK INVOLVES A LOT OF NON-NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES.

FOR EXAMPLE THEY HELP TO DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCES FOR TRANSPORTATION LIKE ETHANOL, GAS-ELECTRIC HYBRIDS, AND HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS.

IN OUR NEW AGE OF HEIGHTENED NATIONAL SECURITY, ARGONNE IS ALSO DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE WAYS TO DETECT RADIOACTIVE, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL THREATS.

NORTH OF ARGONNE IN DARIEN YOU'LL FIND A 1/10TH SIZE REPLICA OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

COMPLETE WITH AN OVAL OFFICE USED AS A DINING ROOM.

U.S.

CONGRESSMAN MARTIN BARNABY MADDEN BUILT IT AS A SUMMER HOME AND AS A 25TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENT FOR HIS WIFE WHO WAS FROM THIS AREA.

HE CALLED IT "CASTLE EDEN."

MADDEN LOST A LEG AS A BOY, WHEN HE WAS DRIVING A MULE ON THE ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL.

A ROPE GOT CAUGHT AROUND HIS LEG AND CRUSHED IT.

HE GOT $500 FROM THE STATE FOR HIS INJURY.

IN FACT, HE'S SAID TO BE THE FIRST PERSON IN ILLINOIS TO HAVE GOTTEN A WORKMAN'S COMPENSATION SETTLEMENT.

HE INVESTED THE MONEY IN HIS EDUCATION.

HE BECAME A LAWYER AND PRESIDENT OF A QUARRY BEFORE BEING ELECTED TO CONGRESS.

HE WAS ONE OF THE LAWMAKERS INSTRUMENTAL IN BUILDING THE PANAMA CANAL.

IN FACT, MADDEN HELD A MEETING OF CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORS TO DISCUSS THE BUILDING OF THE PANAMA CANAL HERE IN THE EAST ROOM OF HIS WHITE HOUSE.

IT'S STILL CALLED THE PANAMA ROOM TODAY.

MADDEN DIED IN THE CAPITAL BUILDING IN WASHINGTON D.C.

IN 1928, SHORTLY AFTER WINNING WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 13TH TERM IN CONGRESS.

TODAY, MADDEN'S OLD WHITE HOUSE IS PART OF A SPIRITUAL CENTER FOR THE PRIESTS AND BROTHERS OF THE CARMELITE ORDER.

THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF ST. THERESE IS HERE.

[MUSIC] AS WE LEAVE LEMONT, WE GET TO THE PLACE WHERE THE MANMADE CAL-SAG CHANNEL FLOWS INTO THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL.

THE CAL-SAG IS THE CHANNEL I TOLD YOU ABOUT EARLIER ON THIS TOUR THAT OPENED IN 1922.

NEAR THE CONFLUENCE OF THE CAL-SAG AND THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL IS A CHURCH CALLED ST. JAMES AT SAG BRIDGE.

IT SITS ON HIGH GROUND CALLED MOUNT FOREST ISLAND.

IN FACT, THIS TRIANGULAR PIECE OF LAND WAS AN ISLAND IN PRE-HISTORIC TIMES.

LATER... AN INDIAN VILLAGE AND LOOKOUT STOOD HERE.

ST. JAMES PARISH SERVED MANY OF THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS WHOSE BACKBREAKING LABOR BUILT THE OLD I & M CANAL.

MANY OF THEM ARE BURIED IN ST. JAMES CHURCH CEMETERY, WHICH IS EVEN OLDER THAN THE CHURCH BUILDING ITSELF.

IN FACT, IT'S THE OLDEST CEMETERY IN THE CHICAGO ARCHDIOCESE, DATING FROM 1837.

THE IMMIGRANT CANAL BUILDERS BURIED HERE BASICALLY DUG A 96-MILE DITCH BY HAND USING PICKS AND SHOVELS.

LIFE IN IRELAND HAD BEEN MISERABLE FOR THEM, BUT THIS LIFE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER.

IT WAS WRETCHED WORK FOR WHICH THEY WERE PAID A DOLLAR A DAY, MINUS A FEE FOR MEALS.

AND THAT MEAGER SUM WAS OFTEN PAID NOT IN U.S. CURRENCY, BUT IN A NEARLY WORTHLESS KIND OF PROMISSORY NOTE CALLED CANAL SCRIP.

TODAY, ST. JAMES AT SAG BRIDGE CALLS ITSELF THE ONLY COUNTRY PARISH IN THE CHICAGO ARCHDIOCESE.

NOW WE'LL TAKE A SIDE TRIP A SHORT WAY UP THE CAL-SAG CHANNEL.

THIS CHANNEL FLOWS WESTWARD FROM THE CALUMET RIVER AND LAKE MICHIGAN INTO THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL.

IT WAS ACTUALLY BUILT TO HELP KEEP THE WATER FLOWING IN THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL.

THIS CHANNEL RUNS THROUGH AN ANCIENT VALLEY THAT WAS CARVED OUT 10,000 YEARS AGO AT THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE AS WATER FROM MELTING GLACIERS RUSHED OUT OF LAKE MICHIGAN AND INTO WHAT IS TODAY THE ILLINOIS RIVER.

THE CHANNEL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1911 AND 1922.

ON EITHER SIDE OF THE CHANNEL IS THE LARGEST FOREST PRESERVE IN COOK COUNTY, THE PALOS-SAG VALLEY FOREST PRESERVE, COVERING 13,000 ACRES.

THAT'S 28 SQUARE MILES!

A GOOD PART OF THIS LOW LYING TRACT WAS ONCE A SWAMPY AREA CALLED THE SAGANASHKEE SLOUGH.

YOU CAN STILL SEE A REMNANT OF THE OLD SLOUGH IN THE FOREST PRESERVE.

IT ONCE STRETCHED FROM THE DES PLAINES RIVER, WHERE THE CANAL IS TODAY, EASTWARD TO WHAT IS NOW THE SUBURB OF BLUE ISLAND.

THIS ENORMOUS FOREST PRESERVE WAS SAVED FROM DEVELOPMENT ALMOST BY ACCIDENT.

SETTLERS FOUND THE TERRAIN IN THIS AREA UNSUITABLE FOR FARMING AND LEFT IT ALONE.

LUCKY FOR US, BECAUSE AS A FOREST PRESERVE IT HAS SOME ONE-OF-A-KIND FEATURES.

LIKE THE ONLY ROCK CANYON IN COOK COUNTY.

[MUSIC] THERE WERE SO MANY NATIVE AMERICAN CAMPS AND VILLAGES IN THIS AREA THAT THE COOK COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT ONCE EMPLOYED A FULL TIME ARCHEOLOGIST!

IN THE 1930S, THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS BUILT THE LONGEST AND HIGHEST TOBOGGAN SLIDE IN THE CHICAGO AREA HERE.

UNFORTUNATELY AS OF 2006, IT WAS CLOSED DUE TO SAFETY AND EQUIPMENT CONCERNS.

THE 2006 FEATURE FILM "LAKE HOUSE," STARRING SANDRA BULLOCK AND KEANU REEVES, WAS SHOT IN PALOS FOREST PRESERVE.

A COMPLETE MODERNIST HOME WAS BUILT ON MAPLE LAKE IN TEN WEEKS USING 35 TONS OF STEEL.

THE HOUSE WAS DISMANTLED AS SOON AS FILMING WAS FINISHED .

BACK ON THE SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL NOW, WE CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY TOWARD CHICAGO WITH A VISIT TO BURR RIDGE.

[MUSIC] TODAY IT'S ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST COMMUNITIES IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

SO IT'S A LITTLE SURPRISING THAT IT HAS A LONG HISTORY AS A TESTING GROUND FOR FARM TRACTORS; AND NOT JUST ANY TRACTORS.

THIS WAS WHERE CHICAGO-BASED INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER TESTED THE WORLD'S FIRST ALL-PURPOSE TRACTOR.

A MACHINE THAT WOULD REVOLUTIONIZE FARMING.

IT WAS CALLED THE "FARMALL" AND IT WAS FIRST PRODUCED IN 1923.

RESIDENTS NAMED THE VILLAGE HARVESTER, IN HONOR OF INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER IN 1956.

THE OLD INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY IS NOW PART OF A CORPORATION CALLED CNH, AND THEY STILL TEST TRACTORS IN BURR RIDGE!

BACK IN THE CANAL WE APPROACH WILLOW SPRINGS.

THERE YOU'LL FIND A JOINT THAT'S BEEN JUMPING WITH BALLROOM DANCERS SINCE 1921!

THE WILLOWBROOK BALLROOM.

IT'S ALSO THE SETTING FOR ONE OF CHICAGO'S MOST FAMOUS GHOST STORIES.

THE DANCE HALL WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED O HENRY PARK.

THE PLACE WAS PACKED WITH THOUSANDS OF DANCERS EVERY WEEKEND DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II.

THEY DANCED TO COUNT BASIE, BENNY GOODMAN, HARRY JAMES AND OTHER LEGENDARY ORCHESTRAS.

NOW THE GHOST STORY.

SOMETIME DURING THE 1930S A MYSTERIOUS YOUNG WOMAN SUPPOSEDLY STARTED SHOWING UP HERE.

SHE WAS BLONDE AND WORE A WHITE PARTY DRESS AND DANCING SHOES.

MEN WHO OFFERED TO DRIVE HER HOME AT THE END OF THE NIGHT ALWAYS TOLD THE SAME STORY.

SHE ASKED TO BE DRIVEN NORTH ALONG ARCHER AVENUE, BUT AS THE CAR PASSED RESURRECTION CEMETERY IN JUSTICE, SHE WOULD DISAPPEAR.

SOMETIMES DRIVERS PASSING THE BALLROOM HERE ON ARCHER AVENUE WOULD SEE HER HITCHHIKING AND PICK HER UP.

AGAIN ONLY TO HAVE HER VANISH AS THE CAR PASSED THE CEMETERY.

SHE CAME TO BE KNOWN AS RESURRECTION MARY.

LEGEND HAS IT THAT SHE WAS THE GHOST OF A GIRL WHO GOT INTO A FIGHT WITH HER DATE HERE AT WILLOWBROOK BALLROOM AND STORMED OUT INTO THE COLD WINTER NIGHT.

SHE WAS PLANNING TO WALK HOME, BUT SHE WAS STRUCK BY A HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER AND KILLED.

HER GRIEF-STRICKEN PARENTS BURIED HER IN HER PARTY DRESS IN RESURRECTION CEMETERY.

AT CHET'S MELODY LOUNGE ALONG ARCHER AVENUE, THERE'S ALWAYS A DRINK AT THE BAR FOR MARY, IN CASE SHE STOPS BY.

TODAY, BALLROOM DANCING IS BACK BIG TIME AND WILLOWBROOK OFFERS COUNTRY AND WESTERN, SALSA AND SWING TOO.

[MUSIC] IF YOU'VE SENT OR RECEIVED A UPS PACKAGE SINCE 1995, IT'S ALMOST CERTAINLY PASSED THROUGH THIS AMAZING DISTRIBUTION FACILITY IN HODGKINS, ILLINOIS.

UPS PROCESSES A MILLION AND A HALF PACKAGES HERE EVERY DAY, AND MORE DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.

THIS IS THE HIGHEST VOLUME PACKAGE DISTRIBUTION FACILITY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO UPS.

THE PACKAGES ARE PROPELLED AT HIGH SPEED ALONG 65 MILES OF CONVEYOR BELTS AND ROLLERS.

SEVENTY-FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE WORK HERE.

YOU COULD FIT THREE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS END-TO-END INSIDE THE BUILDING.

TRAILERS FROM THE UPS FACILITY ARE SHUTTLED JUST A FEW HUNDRED FEET TO THIS BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAIL YARD NEXT DOOR.

THEY'RE LOADED ON AND OFF OF RAIL CARS HITCHED TO MILE-LONG EXPEDITED TRAINS THAT TRAVEL TO THE WESTERN UNITED STATES FASTER THAN TRUCKS CAN TRAVEL BY ROAD.

[MUSIC] UPS AND THE RAILROAD PICKED THIS LOCATION BECAUSE IT'S ALONG THE BUSTLING TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR THAT GOT ITS START MORE THAN A 150 YEARS AGO WITH THE DIGGING OF THE I & M CANAL.

THE BIGGEST NIGHTMARE FOR ANY RAILROAD IS WHEN A TRAIN HITS A CAR.

SO WHY DID THE SANTA FE RAILROAD DO IT ON PURPOSE IN 1988?

THE RAILROAD STAGED THIS COLLISION IN HODGKINS WITH CAMERAS ROLLING FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE FILM TO PROMOTE SAFETY AT RAIL CROSSINGS.

OKAY.

I'M CONVINCED.

[MUSIC] NOW I WANT TO SHOW YOU A REALLY AMAZING STRUCTURE IN HODGKINS.

IT'S NINE STORIES TALL, BUT YOU CAN'T SEE IT FROM THE STREET, BECAUSE IT'S BURIED 30 STORIES UNDERGROUND.

IT'S A CHAMBER THAT HOUSES SOME OF THE LARGEST PUMPS IN THE WORLD.

DOWN HERE IT LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE VAST UNDERGROUND REALMS BUILT BY AN EVIL MASTERMIND FOR A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE.

BUT THIS WAS BUILT BY THE FORCES FOR GOOD.

LIKE THE CANAL HUNDREDS OF FEET ABOVE US, IT'S PART OF A SYSTEM THAT KEEPS SEWAGE FROM OVERFLOWING INTO OUR SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER, LAKE MICHIGAN.

THESE PUMPS ARE CONNECTED TO THE DEEP TUNNEL SYSTEM, THE MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR 109-MILE UNDERGROUND NETWORK SERVING THREE MILLION PEOPLE IN THE CHICAGO AREA.

SOME OF THE DEEP TUNNELS ARE 33 FEET IN DIAMETER.

THAT'S AS BIG AROUND AS THAT HUGE CIRCLE PAINTED ON THE WALL OF THE PUMPING STATION.

THE DEEP TUNNEL IS DESIGNED TO COLLECT RAINWATER AND SEWAGE WHEN STORMS OVERWHELM THE NORMAL SEWER SYSTEM AND THEN IT HOLDS ONTO THAT WATER UNTIL IT CAN BE PUMPED OUT TO SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS.

CONTINUING UP THE CANAL WE COME TO SUMMIT, ILLINOIS.

BUT IF YOU LOOK AROUND TOWN YOU MIGHT THINK IT HAD A DIFFERENT NAME: ARGO-- THERE'S AN ARGO HIGH SCHOOL ARGO CHURCH ARGO POST OFFICE ARGO AMERICAN LEGION POST AND SO ON, AND SO ON...

THE THING IS THERE'S NO MUNICIPALITY CALLED ARGO!

ALL OF THESE NAMES ARE IN HONOR OF THAT MAINSTAY OF VIRTUALLY EVERY AMERICAN PANTRY, ARGO CORNSTARCH.

THAT'S BECAUSE CORN PRODUCTS COMPANY, MAKERS OF ARGO CORN STARCH WAS ONCE THE BIGGEST EMPLOYER IN TOWN.

IN FACT, NEIGHBORING BEDFORD PARK WAS NAMED FOR CORN PRODUCTS' PRESIDENT EDWARD T. BEDFORD.

THE COMPANY IS STILL A MAJOR MANUFACTURER OF SWEETENERS AND STARCHES FOUND IN EVERYTHING FROM ICE CREAM TO BEER TO CORRUGATED CARDBOARD.

THE CORN PRODUCTS PLANT BROUGHT THE FAMILY OF EMMETT TILL TO SETTLE HERE FROM THE DEEP SOUTH.

TILL WAS THE AFRICAN AMERICAN TEENAGER WHOSE MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI IN 1955 BECAME A CATALYST FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

WE SAW HIS GRAVE EARLIER ON THIS TOUR IN ALSIP.

EMMETT'S GRANDFATHER AND FATHER BOTH WORKED AT THE CORN PRODUCTS PLANT.

HIS GRANDMOTHER HELPED TO FOUND THE ARGO TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST.

HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT THIS BLUE-COLLAR TOWN IS WHERE DINNER THEATRE FIRST FLOURISHED IN AMERICA.

THE CANDLELIGHT THEATRE ON HARLEM AVENUE PRESENTED LAVISHLY STAGED BROADWAY MUSICALS FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS.

OWNER BILL PULLINSI CAME UP WITH THE IDEA AS A COLLEGE STUDENT.

HIS GRANDFATHER OWNED A BUILDING NEAR MIDWAY AIRPORT, SO PULLINSI USED IT TO TRY OUT HIS IDEA IN 1961.

IT WAS SUCH A HIT THAT THREE YEARS LATER HE MOVED INTO A CUSTOM BUILT THEATRE-IN-THE-ROUND IN NEARBY SUMMIT.

TO PRESENT EDGIER PLAYS WITHOUT DINNER, PULLINSI BUILT THE FORUM THEATRE NEXT DOOR IN 1972.

BOTH THEATRES CLOSED IN THE LATE 1990S AND WERE TORN DOWN.

MY FAVORITE PERSONAGE FROM SUMMIT HISTORY IS "LONG JOHN" WENTWORTH.

HE WAS THE AREA'S LARGEST LANDOWNER AND I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT ACREAGE.

WENTWORTH STOOD SIX-FOOT-SIX AND WEIGHED 300 POUNDS.

HE ONCE OWNED 4,700 ACRES IN THIS AREA INCLUDING A HOUSE HERE AT HARLEM AND ARCHER.

HE SERVED IN CONGRESS WITH ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HE ALSO SERVED TWO TERMS AS CHICAGO MAYOR.

HE ONCE WON AN ELECTION USING THE CAMPAIGN SPEECH: "YOU DAMN FOOLS CAN EITHER VOTE FOR ME OR YOU CAN GO TO HELL!"

WENTWORTH CAME TO CHICAGO FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE WITH $30 IN HIS POCKET IN 1836.

HE WAS 21 AND FRESH OUT OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

CHICAGO WAS A MUDDY FRONTIER TOWN OF 4,000 PEOPLE.

HE MADE HIS FORTUNE IN REAL ESTATE AND PROMOTED HIS POLITICAL CAUSES WITH MUDSLINGING EDITORIALS IN THE NEWSPAPER HE OWNED; THE CHICAGO DEMOCRAT.

NEAR THE END OF HIS LIFE HE SAID HE WANTED TO HAVE "THE LOFTIEST TOMB IN THE WEST."

SO HE BOUGHT A 72-FOOT TALL GRANITE OBELISK AND HAD IT SHIPPED TO CHICAGO ON TWO RAILROAD CARS.

IT NOW STANDS ABOVE HIS GRAVE IN ROSEHILL CEMETERY.

ONE OF WENTWORTH'S FELLOW LAND SPECULATORS IN THIS AREA WAS A CANAL COMMISSIONER NAMED COL. WILLIAM B. ARCHER.

ARCHER AVENUE-- WHICH IS-- ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ROAD SOUTH WEST OF CHICAGO-- IS NAMED FOR HIM.

BUT THIS WAS THE MAIN DRAG HERE EVEN BEFORE THERE WAS A CHICAGO.

IT WAS AN INDIAN TRAIL THAT FOLLOWED THE OLD CHICAGO PORTAGE.

SO WHY IS THIS PLACE CALLED SUMMIT?

WELL THIS IS THE HIGH POINT IN THE OLD MUDDY PORTAGE BETWEEN THE DES PLAINES RIVER AND THE CHICAGO RIVER.

ALL THE WATER TO THE WEST FLOWS INTO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, BECAUSE IT'S A LOW CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.

THE WATER TO THE EAST USED TO FLOW INTO THE GREAT LAKES UNTIL THE CANAL REVERSED THE FLOW OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.

CROSSING THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AT SUMMIT WE'LL GO INTO FAST FORWARD AND FOLLOW THE OLD CANAL ROUTE TO ITS TERMINUS: THE MOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER AT LAKE MICHIGAN.

MCCOOK, WHICH IS BEHIND US, AND STICKNEY AND FOREST VIEW AHEAD WERE ONCE FAMOUS FOR BROTHELS, BARS AND ILLEGAL GAMBLING, SOME CONTROLLED BY AL CAPONE DURING PROHIBITION.

TODAY THESE TOWNS ARE PART OF THE SHIPPING AND MANUFACTURING MECCA ALONG THE OLD CANAL ROUTE.

STICKNEY IS ALSO HOME TO THE WORLD'S LARGEST SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT.

IT MAKES ALL THAT WATER THAT FLOWS DOWN OUR REVERSED RIVER TO THE MISSISSIPPI A LOT MORE PALATABLE.

ENTERING THE CHICAGO RIVER'S SOUTH BRANCH WE PASS THE LEGENDARY CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD OF BRIDGEPORT.

THIS IS WHERE WORKERS BEGAN DIGGING WESTWARD TO CREATE THE ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL.

CANAL ORIGINS PARK, WHICH OPENED IN 2005, COMMEMORATES THIS VITAL AND LITTLE-REMEMBERED PART OF OUR HISTORY.

FURTHER UP THE SOUTH BRANCH WHERE VOYAGEURS ONCE PADDLED CANOES FILLED WITH ANIMAL PELTS AND CANAL BARGES CARRIED LUMBER AND STONE WE ENTER A SKYSCRAPER CANYON.

WE PASS THE SEARS TOWER, FOR 20 YEARS THE TALLEST BUILDING ON THE PLANET.

AT THE MERCHANDISE MART WE ENTER THE RIVER'S MAIN STEM, AND SOON WE PASS SUCH ICONIC HIGHRISES AS THE WRIGLEY BUILDING AND TRIBUNE TOWER.

APPROACHING LAKESHORE DRIVE WE COME TO THE END OF THE OLD ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL.

THIS WAS ONCE A HUGE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD YARD.

THIS IS WHERE CHICAGO-BOUND I & M CANAL BOATS FINISHED THEIR JOURNEYS AND OFFLOADED THEIR GOODS ONTO TRAINS OR GREAT LAKES SCHOONERS BOUND FOR THE EAST.

OUR JOURNEY ENDS JUST A LITTLE FARTHER EAST AT THE LOCK THAT SEPARATES THE CHICAGO RIVER FROM THE LAKE.

IT WAS BUILT IN 1938 TO SLOW DOWN THAT BACKWARDS FLOW FROM LAKE MICHIGAN.

THE RIVER MOUTH IS LIKE CHICAGO'S FRONT DOOR.

FROM HERE YOU GET THE POSTCARD VIEW OF THE CITY.

THE SPECTACULAR LAKEFRONT WITH ITS GLEAMING SKYLINE.

BUT ON THIS TOUR WE ENTERED THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, AND LEARNED THE REAL STORY OF WHAT STARTED CHICAGO ON THE PATH TO GREATNESS.

A NARROW, 19TH CENTURY CANAL CARVED ACROSS THE MUDDY PRAIRIE, SOUTHWEST OF CHICAGO.