THIS IS THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS HOSPITAL ON THE NEAR WEST SIDE.

IT'S ALSO THE VERY SPOT WHERE THE CUBS LAST WON A WORLD SERIES.

HI I'M GEOFFREY BAER.

I WASN'T ALIVE FOR THAT GREAT EVENT IN CUBS HISTORY, BUT I DID SEE IT WITH MY OWN EYES.

HOW?

WITH THIS TIME MACHINE.

I FOUND IT NOT TOO LONG AGO, AT A FLEA MARKET, ON THE SOUTHWEST SIDE.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] AS I TOOK MY NEW DEVICE ALL AROUND CHICAGO, I WAS AMAZED BY HOW MUCH I SAW AND LEARNED ABOUT THE PAST.

[MUSIC] IN THIS SHOW, I'LL SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF WHAT I DISCOVERED... LIKE A WWII BOMBER ENGINE FACTORY, THAT'S NOW A SHOPPING MALL.

A NEGRO LEAGUES BALLPARK WHERE THE DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY STANDS TODAY.

A SUPER-SECRET NUCLEAR REACTOR, BURIED LONG AGO IN A FOREST PRESERVE.

A FRENCH MISSIONARY, WHO CAMPED IN WHAT IS NOW AN INDUSTRIAL AREA ON THE CHICAGO RIVER'S SOUTH BRANCH.

THE RESTING PLACE OF A GIANT PRE-HISTORIC CREATURE UNDER A CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL.

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

JOIN ME AS WE EXPLORE CHICAGO WITH OUR OWN TIME MACHINE.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] ELECTION NIGHT, 2008.

A VICTORIOUS BARACK OBAMA IS CHEERED BY A QUARTER MILLION PEOPLE AT THE SOUTH END OF CHICAGO'S GRANT PARK.

BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DID ON THIS DAY, IN THIS ELECTION, AT THIS DEFINING MOMENT CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA.

AMAZINGLY, THIS VERY SPOT WHERE OBAMA CLAIMED VICTORY HAS BEEN THE SCENE OF MANY OTHER DRAMATIC EVENTS IN CHICAGO HISTORY.

LET'S START OUT BY LOOKING THROUGH OUR TIME MACHINE TO THE YEAR 1968.

ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS RALLIED HERE BEFORE MARCHING ON THE CONRAD HILTON HOTEL WHERE DELEGATES TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION WERE STAYING.

IT TURNED INTO A VIOLENT CONFLICT THAT WAS BEAMED LIVE TO TV AUDIENCES AROUND THE WORLD, CAUSED UPROAR ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR... (NIXON) TO RELOCATE THE CONVENTION IN ANOTHER CITY... (BAER) ...AND MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO HUBERT HUMPHREY'S LOSS TO RICHARD NIXON.

JOURNEYING BACK IN TIME ANOTHER 30 YEARS RIGHT HERE, THE CITY DEDICATED A SLEEK ART DECO STYLE BAND SHELL.

FREE CONCERTS BEGAN HERE IN 1935, ORGANIZED BY MUSICIAN'S UNION PRESIDENT JAMES PETRILLO.

MAYOR ANTON CERMAK HOPED THE MUSIC WOULD "LIFT THE SPIRITS OF CHICAGOANS" DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

PETRILLO HOPED IT WOULD GIVE MUSICIANS SOME PAID WORK.

THE BAND SHELL WAS RE-NAMED FOR PETRILLO IN 1975.

THE CURRENT PETRILLO MUSIC SHELL AT THE NORTH END OF GRANT PARK REPLACED THE OLD ONE IN 1978.

GOING BACK FURTHER IN TIME TO THE YEAR 1911... WATCH OUT!

DAREDEVIL AVIATORS SWOOPED LOW OVER THE HEADS OF 600,000 SPECTATORS AS GRANT PARK WAS CONVERTED INTO A TEMPORARY AIRFIELD FOR A NINE-DAY INTERNATIONAL AVIATION MEET.

38 FLIERS FROM THE U.S., CANADA AND EUROPE COMPETED FOR $80,000 IN PRIZE MONEY IN RACES, AND IN ALTITUDE, DISTANCE AND ENDURANCE EVENTS.

MANY PLANES CRASHED AND TWO PILOTS WERE KILLED.

THE LAND THAT'S GRANT PARK TODAY, AND THESE TRAIN TRACKS RUNNING THROUGH IT WERE ORIGINALLY IN THE LAKE.

IN 1852 THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD BUILT A TRESTLE ABOUT A HUNDRED YARDS OUT IN THE LAKE, PARALLEL TO SHORE TO CARRY ITS TRAINS TO A FREIGHT TERMINAL AT THE MOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.

AFTER THE GREAT FIRE OF 1871, THE CHARRED REMAINS OF THE CITY WERE DUMPED IN THE LAKE, FILLING THE AREA BETWEEN THE SHORE AND THE TRESTLE.

THAT'S RIGHT.

WHEN YOU VISIT PARTS OF GRANT PARK TODAY YOU'RE WALKING ON THE ASHES OF THE CHICAGO FIRE.

THE UNSIGHTLY TRACKS WERE DEPRESSED BELOW GRADE AND BY THE 1920S PARKLAND WAS EXTENDED FURTHER INTO THE LAKE AS PART OF THE 1909 BURNHAM PLAN, WHICH GAVE CHICAGO IT'S GLORIOUS, CLASSICALLY INSPIRED FRONT YARD.

WE'RE ON THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER NOW AT DAMEN.

IT WOULD BE HARD TO IMAGINE SOMEONE CAMPING IN THIS INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE TODAY.

BUT IF WE LOOK BACK AT THE YEAR 1674, WE MEET SOMEONE WHO SET UP CAMP RIGHT AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE AND HUNKERED DOWN FOR A LONG, COLD WINTER!

HE WAS FATHER JACQUES MARQUETTE A JESUIT MISSIONARY.

THIS WAS A RETURN TRIP FOR MARQUETTE.

A YEAR EARLIER HE AND EXPLORER LOUIS JOLIET HAD BEEN THE FIRST DOCUMENTED NON-NATIVE PEOPLE TO SEE THE FUTURE SITE OF CHICAGO.

MARQUETTE RETURNED ON A MISSIONARY TRIP.

HE HAD PLANNED TO TRAVEL DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.

BUT ILL HEALTH AND AN EARLY WINTER FORCED HIM TO HOLE UP HERE ALONG THE CHICAGO RIVER.

FLASH FORWARD TO 1907.

A WOODEN CROSS WAS ERECTED AT MARQUETTE'S CAMPSITE.

THE OWNER OF A LOCAL LUMBERYARD, CAMERON L. WILLEY PUT IT THERE, ALONG WITH A BRONZE PLAQUE SINGING MARQUETTE AND JOLIET'S PRAISES.

JUST EIGHT YEARS LATER, WHEN VANDALS SAWED IT OFF AND THREW IT INTO THE RIVER, WILLEY DEFIANTLY BUILT A NEW CROSS.

THAT CROSS WAS REMOVED IN THE 1930S WHEN THE DAMEN AVENUE BRIDGE WAS BUILT.

BUT MARQUETTE WAS NOT FORGOTTEN.

THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED NEXT TO THE BRIDGE.

THIS IS LAKE MEADOWS APARTMENT COMPLEX ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

I WONDER HOW MANY OF THE RESIDENTS HERE KNOW THAT THEY LIVE RIGHT ON TOP OF A CIVIL WAR POW CAMP.

SOME 26,000 CONFEDERATE PRISONERS WERE INTERRED HERE IN FLIMSY BARRACKS -- AS MANY AS 10,000 AT ANY ONE TIME.

THEY ENDURED HARSH WEATHER, POOR SANITATION ON THE SOGGY LAKEFRONT AND BRUTAL TREATMENT BY THEIR UNION ARMY CAPTORS.

MORE THAN 4,000 PRISONERS DIED.

IT WAS CALLED CAMP DOUGLAS BECAUSE THE PROPERTY HAD BEEN THE LAKEFRONT ESTATE OF SENATOR STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, BEST KNOWN AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S DEBATE OPPONENT.

IT WAS USED AS A UNION ARMY TRAINING CAMP BEFORE BEING CONVERTED TO A POW CAMP.

UNION RECRUITS AND CONFEDERATE PRISONERS WERE TRANSPORTED BETWEEN THE CAMP AND THE BATTLEFIELDS VIA THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD, WHICH RAN RIGHT ALONG THE LAKEFRONT RIGHT PAST THE PROPERTY.

DECADES AFTER THE CIVIL WAR THAT SAME RAILROAD BROUGHT WAVES OF AFRICAN AMERICANS TO THIS AREA FROM THE DEEP SOUTH IN WHAT WAS CALLED "THE GREAT MIGRATION."

BECAUSE OF RACIST HOUSING POLICIES THEY COULD ONLY LIVE IN A LONG NARROW STRIP OF SOUTH SIDE LAND THAT INCLUDED THE OLD CAMP DOUGLAS PROPERTY.

OUTSIDERS CALLED IT "THE BLACK BELT."

TO SAY THEY MADE THE BEST OF IT IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

THEY BUILT A VIBRANT COMMUNITY, WITH SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT WHERE, UNLIKE DOWNTOWN, BLACK CUSTOMERS WERE SERVED WITH RESPECT.

AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER DUBBED IT 'BRONZEVILLE'.

THEY HAD THEIR OWN BANKS, STORES, INSURANCE FIRMS, NEWSPAPERS AND NIGHTCLUBS WHERE THE GREATEST NAMES IN JAZZ PERFORMED.

MANY PARTS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD BEGAN A LONG, SLOW DECLINE IN THE 1920S DUE TO OVERCROWDING, THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND OTHER FACTORS.

IN THE 1950S, AFTER RESTRICTIVE HOUSING POLICIES WERE DECLARED ILLEGAL, AFRICAN AMERICANS STARTED MOVING OUT, AND THE OLD DISTRICT DECAYED EVEN MORE.

PART OF THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD WAS BULLDOZED TO MAKE ROOM FOR LAKE MEADOWS IN THE 1950S AND 60S.

THE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT STANDS AS A RARE EXAMPLE OF WHAT PLANNERS HOPED URBAN RENEWAL MIGHT BE A WELL-KEPT, MIXED-INCOME COMMUNITY, IN A PARK-LIKE SETTING.

THIS ULTRA-LUXURY LINCOLN PARK CONDO TOWER OPENED IN 2012.

NOW, IF WE LOOK IN OUR TIME MACHINE WE SEE THAT IN THE 1950S THERE WAS A CATHOLIC SHRINE HERE.

THE FUNNY THING IS...

IT'S STILL INSIDE!

THIS IS THE NATIONAL SHRINE TO ST. FRANCES CABRINI, THE FIRST U.S. CITIZEN TO BECOME A SAINT.

IT WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT INSIDE OF COLUMBUS HOSPITAL.

BUT WHEN THE HOSPITAL WAS TORN DOWN TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE CONDO TOWER, THE CHAPEL WAS PRESERVED, AND THE TOWER WAS BUILT AROUND IT.

MOTHER CABRINI FOUNDED COLUMBUS HOSPITAL IN 1905 AND SHE LIVED AND DIED THERE.

HER CANONIZATION IN 1946 WAS CELEBRATED AT SOLDIER FIELD BY A CROWD OF MORE THAN 100,000, RECOGNIZING HER LIFE'S WORK, WHICH INCLUDED CARING FOR ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS-- IN FACT SHE'S THE PATRON SAINT OF IMMIGRANTS.

MOTHER CABRINI WAS ALSO A SHREWD BUSINESSWOMAN.

SO SHREWD, THAT WHEN SHE BOUGHT A FORECLOSED HOTEL TO BUILD COLUMBUS HOSPITAL, SHE SPOTTED SOMETHING FISHY IN THE REAL ESTATE CONTRACT.

AS THE STORY GOES, THE PROPERTY DIMENSIONS JUST DIDN'T LOOK RIGHT TO HER.

SO SHE AND HER SISTERS MADE A MAKESHIFT TAPE MEASURE BY TYING A BUNCH OF SHOE STRINGS TOGETHER.

THEY WENT OUT TO THE PROPERTY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND MEASURED IT.

SHE WAS RIGHT - AND THE CONTRACT WAS CHANGED.

THE SHRINE WAS BUILT AS PART OF A NEW ADDITION TO THE HOSPITAL IN THE 1950S.

ONE OF MOTHER CABRINI'S ARM BONES WAS INSTALLED BENEATH THE CHAPEL'S ALTAR AS A SACRED RELIC.

AND THE ROOM WHERE SHE DIED HAS BEEN RE-CREATED WITH HER ACTUAL FURNITURE.

ONE OF THE FAMILIAR FRUSTRATIONS OF VISITING THE CITY-COUNTY BUILDING HERE IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO IS WAITING IN LINE.

MAYBE THE LONGEST LINE EVER WAS ON MAY 2, 1865 AT A PREVIOUS CITY-COUNTY BUILDING ON THIS SAME SITE.

TENS OF THOUSANDS HAD COME TO PAY THEIR LAST RESPECTS TO MURDERED PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THE BUILDING WAS DRAPED IN BLACK AND A HUGE PLATFORM HAD BEEN ERECTED IN THE ROTUNDA FOR LINCOLN'S CASKET.

SOME 7,000 PEOPLE PER HOUR STREAMED PAST LINCOLN'S BODY.

THE FALLEN PRESIDENT HAD ARRIVED BY TRAIN THE DAY BEFORE.

THE FUNERAL PROCESSION INCLUDING 10,000 SCHOOL CHILDREN, MILITARY DETACHMENTS AND DIGNITARIES STARTED AT A SOARING CEREMONIAL ARCH BUILT NEAR THE TRAIN STATION AND ENDED AT THE COURTHOUSE WHERE THE BELL TOLLED FOR LINCOLN.

THAT SAME BELL WOULD SOUND THE ALARM JUST SIX YEARS LATER ON OCTOBER 8TH 1871, AS THE CITY BURNED.

WITHIN HOURS THE BUILDING AND ALL OF DOWNTOWN LAY IN RUINS.

THIS BLOCK HAS ACTUALLY BEEN THE HOME OF COOK COUNTY GOVERNMENT SINCE CHICAGO WAS FOUNDED.

A COUNTY COURTHOUSE WAS BUILT HERE IN 1837.

CITY BUSINESS WAS CONDUCTED A BLOCK NORTH IN THE SALOON BUILDING, THE FIRST OF SEVEN CITY HALLS IN CHICAGO HISTORY.

IN 1842 CITY GOVERNMENT MOVED AROUND THE CORNER TO A BUILDING RENTED FROM A WOMAN CALLED "THE WIDOW CHAPMAN."

IT WAS AT RANDOLPH AND LASALLE.

TODAY, THAT'S THE BACK OF THE THOMPSON CENTER.

CITY HALL NUMBER THREE WAS THE MOST UNUSUAL.

IT WAS ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF A BUILDING WITH MARKET STALLS AT STREET LEVEL.

THE SO-CALLED "OLD MARKET HALL" RAN RIGHT UP THE MIDDLE OF STATE STREET.

IN 1853 CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT MOVED TOGETHER INTO THE IMPOSING BUILDING THAT WAS LATER DESTROYED IN THE CHICAGO FIRE.

THE COUNTY GAVE THE CITY HALF THE PROPERTY TO SETTLE A $30,000 DEBT.

THAT'S WHY TO THIS DAY THE CITY AND COUNTY SHARE A BUILDING.

THE BELL TOWER WAS ADDED IN 1858 OFFERING PANORAMIC VIEWS OF PRE-FIRE CHICAGO.

AFTER THE FIRE, A TEMPORARY CITY HALL WAS BUILT SURROUNDING AN OLD WATER TANK AT LASALLE AND ADAMS NICKNAMED "THE ROOKERY" BECAUSE IT ATTRACTED ROOSTING BIRDS.

THE NAME STUCK WHEN THE PRESENT OFFICE BUILDING WAS BUILT THERE IN 1888.

BY THEN CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT HAD MOVED INTO A BRAND SPANKING NEW BUILDING ON THE SITE OF THE BURNED CITY HALL.

BUT ITS LONG DRAFTY HALLS, SMALL ROOMS AND FAULTY MECHANICALS MADE IT A MISERABLE PLACE TO WORK.

AFTER JUST 25 YEARS IT WAS TORN DOWN AND CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON THE PRESENT CITY-COUNTY BUILDING, BY THE FAMOUS ARCHITECTS HOLABIRD AND ROCHE.

BECAUSE OF BUDGET PROBLEMS, THE CITY DIDN'T FINISH ITS HALF OF THE BUILDING UNTIL THREE YEARS AFTER THE COUNTY.

[PANTING] ALRIGHT, IT ACTUALLY ISN'T THAT STEEP OF A HILL, BUT YOU REALLY ARE WALKING UPHILL VERY SLIGHTLY TO GET HERE TO CLARK ST. FROM THE LAKEFRONT.

THAT'S BECAUSE CLARK STREET FOLLOWS THE SHORE OF AN ANCIENT LAKE.

THAT ANCIENT LAKE, WHICH GEOLOGISTS CALL "LAKE CHICAGO" FORMED WHEN THE GLACIERS MELTED AT THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE ABOUT 11,000 YEAR AGO.

GRADUALLY THE LAKE RECEDED TO FORM PRESENT DAY LAKE MICHIGAN.

THE EARLIER SHORELINE BECAME A RIDGE.

NATIVE AMERICANS BUILT A TRAIL ALONG THAT RIDGE TO HELP THEM MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE SOGGY TERRAIN.

SO CLARK STREET ACTUALLY FOLLOWS BOTH AN ANCIENT SHORELINE AND AN INDIAN TRAIL.

NATIVE AMERICANS TRAVELED THIS TRAIL FOR CENTURIES.

BUT AFTER 1816, THE LAND SOUTH OF THIS INTERSECTION AT ROGERS AVENUE, NO LONGER BELONGED TO THEM.

THIS WAS WHERE THE TRAIL INTERSECTED SOMETHING CALLED THE INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE.

THE LINE MARKED THE NORTHERN END OF TERRITORY THAT THE INDIANS CEDED TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN A TREATY IN 1816.

THAT TREATY WAS ALSO ONE STEP IN A SO-CALLED "INDIAN REMOVAL" POLICY FIRST PROPOSED BY THOMAS JEFFERSON.

IT WAS COMPLETED IN THE CHICAGO AREA WITH A TREATY IN 1833 BANISHING NATIVE AMERICANS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

TODAY ROGERS AVENUE AND FOREST PRESERVE DRIVE FOLLOW THE NORTHERN INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE.

INDIAN BOUNDARY PARK IN THE ROGERS PARK NEIGHBORHOOD SITS RIGHT ON TOP OF THE LINE.

AND IT'S NOT SO EASY TO FIND, BUT AT ROGERS AND CLARK THERE IS A PLAQUE, THAT MARKS THE OLD INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE THIS BUILDING IS A LONG WAY FROM FORD'S THEATRE IN WASHINGTON D.C.

BUT THE TWO ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON.

THERE USED TO BE A THEATRE HERE WHERE YOU COULD FIND ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND JOHN WILKES BOOTH.

IT WAS CALLED MCVICKERS THEATRE.

AND THE NAME 'BOOTH' COULD FILL HOUSES THERE.

THAT'S BECAUSE JOHN WILKES BOOTH WAS PART OF AN AMERICAN STAGE DYNASTY THAT INCLUDED HIS OLDER BROTHER EDWIN BOOTH AND HIS FATHER, AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS TRAGEDIAN, JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH.

JOHN WILKES BOOTH GOT A RAVE REVIEW FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE WHEN HE MADE HIS MCVICKERS DEBUT IN 1862 AS SHAKESPEARE'S RICHARD III.

THE CRITIC CALLED BOOTH "A GENIUS" AND SAID HIS STAGE FIGHTING WAS SO FIERCE THAT HE BROKE HIS SWORD AND TERRIFIED THE AUDIENCE.

EERILY, ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS OFTEN A PATRON AT MCVICKERS WHILE STAYING IN CHICAGO AS A YOUNG TRAVELING LAWYER.

WE FOUND NO EVIDENCE THAT LINCOLN EVER SAW HIS FUTURE ASSASSIN IN A PLAY THERE, BUT LINCOLN VERY LIKELY SAW PLAYS STARRING JUNIUS AND EDWIN ACCORDING TO THEATRE CRITIC JONATHAN ABARBANAL.

THE THEATRE'S OWNER JAMES H. MCVICKER LATER BECAME EDWIN BOOTH'S FATHER-IN-LAW.

ACTUALLY FIVE DIFFERENT MCVICKERS THEATERS STOOD HERE OVER 127 YEARS.

THE FIRST OPENED IN 1857.

THE SECOND WAS DESTROYED IN THE CHICAGO FIRE.

UNDAUNTED MCVICKER BUILT A THIRD ONE.

STAGE LEGEND SARAH BERNHARDT MADE HER CHICAGO STAGE DEBUT THERE IN 1881 IN THE PLAY "CAMILLE."

THAT THEATRE BURNED DOWN IN 1890.

BUT THE INDEFATIGABLE MCVICKER RE-BUILT YET AGAIN WITH A NEW DESIGN FROM RISING STAR ARCHITECTS LOUIS SULLIVAN AND DANKMAR ADLER.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS INTERIOR OF ADLER AND SULLIVAN'S AUDITORIUM THEATRE TODAY, YOU GET A SENSE OF THE LUSH ORNAMENT SULLIVAN USED AT MCVICKERS.

LIFELONG CHICAGOANS MIGHT REMEMBER THE FINAL MCVICKERS.

IT WAS A 2,000 SEAT BALABAN AND KATZ MOVIE PALACE BUILT IN 1923.

THAT THEATRE SUFFERED WITH THE DECLINE OF THE LOOP AFTER WWII.

IT LIMPED ALONG SHOWING KUNG FU AND BLAXPLOITATION FILMS AND EVEN X-RATED MOVIES UNTIL IT FINALLY CLOSED IN 1984.

IT WAS TORN DOWN A YEAR LATER.

DOES THIS PARKING LOT LOOK FAMILIAR TO YOU?

NO?

WELL, IF YOU GREW UP IN CHICAGO BACK IN THE DAY THERE'S ACTUALLY A VERY GOOD CHANCE YOU SPENT MANY HAPPY HOURS HERE.

BELMONT AND WESTERN WAS THE HOME OF RIVERVIEW PARK STARTING IN 1904.

JUST MENTIONING THE NAME OF THIS LEGENDARY AMUSEMENT PARK BRINGS BACK A RUSH OF CHILDHOOD MEMORIES FOR SO MANY CHICAGOANS.

THE PARK WAS MOST FAMOUS FOR ITS ROLLER COASTERS.

ESPECIALLY THE BOBS, WITH ITS HEART-STOPPING 87-FOOT DROP AND RUMORED 90-MILE-AN-HOUR SPEED.

OTHER TOP ATTRACTIONS INCLUDED THE FUNHOUSE CALLED ALADDIN'S CASTLE AND A TERRIFYING FREE-FALL PARACHUTE RIDE THAT WOULD LIKELY FLUNK TODAY'S SAFETY STANDARDS.

AND THEN THERE WAS THE LEGENDARY WATER RIDE "SHOOT THE CHUTES!"

RIVERVIEW WAS BUILT BY GERMAN IMMIGRANTS ON PARK-LIKE PROPERTY THEY HAD BEEN USING AS A PRIVATE TARGET SHOOTING CLUB.

THE EARLY RIDES WERE INSPIRED BY ATTRACTIONS AT TIVOLI GARDENS AND OTHER EUROPEAN PARKS.

ALMOST EVERY YEAR NEW ATTRACTIONS WERE ADDED AND OLD ONES REMODELED OR RE-NAMED TO KEEP PEOPLE COMING BACK BUT THERE WAS A DISTINCTLY SINISTER SIDE TOO.

SO-CALLED FREAK SHOWS, A RACIST DUNK TANK CALLED THE AFRICAN DIP, AND AN AWARENESS THAT PEOPLE HAD BEEN INJURED AND EVEN KILLED ON SOME RIDES OVER THE YEARS.

LIFELONG PATRONS WERE STUNNED WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE PARK WOULD CLOSE FOR GOOD IN 1967.

SOME BLAMED IT ON INCREASED CRIME AND DISORDERLY BEHAVIOR AT THE PARK.

OTHERS SAID THE PROPERTY HAD JUST BECOME TOO VALUABLE.

IF YOU VISIT THE SHOPPING CENTER TODAY, YOU WON'T FIND A TRACE OF THE FORMER FANTASYLAND.

THE ONLY SURVIVING INTACT PIECE OF THE PARK ISN'T IN CHICAGO.

IT'S THE CAROUSEL, BUILT IN 1908, STILL SPINNING AT SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS MEDICAL CENTER HERE ON THE NEAR WEST SIDE IS HALLOWED GROUND FOR CUBS FANS BECAUSE THIS IS THE MOST RECENT PLACE THE TEAM WON A WORLD SERIES.

WE'RE TALKING 1908.

THERE WAS A BALLPARK HERE CALLED WEST SIDE GROUNDS AND IT WAS THE HOME OF THE CUBS FROM 1893 TO 1915.

THE TEAM WAS FIRST CALLED THE CHICAGO WHITE STOCKINGS.

THE YEAR THEY BECAME THE CUBS, 1907, THEY WON THE WORLD SERIES.

THEY WON AGAIN THE FOLLOWING SEASON, AND HAVEN'T WON SINCE.

THE LEGENDARY DOUBLE-PLAY COMBINATION OF TINKER-TO-EVERS-TO-CHANCE WAS A FAN FAVORITE AT WEST WIDE GROUNDS.

THE TERM "WAY OUT IN LEFT FIELD" WAS SUPPOSEDLY COINED RIGHT HERE.

THAT'S BECAUSE THE COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL'S MENTAL INSTITUTION WAS RIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LEFT FIELD WALL.

APPARENTLY THE PATIENTS USED TO YELL AND SCREAM AT THE FANS.

THE CUBS MOVED TO WHAT IS NOW WRIGLEY FIELD IN 1916.

THEY ARE THE ONLY ORIGINAL NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM THAT HAS PLAYED EVERY SEASON IN ITS ORIGINAL CITY.

IF YOU VISIT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS HOSPITAL TODAY THERE IS ONLY A PLAQUE TO REMIND YOU OF THE OLD BALLPARK, WHERE THE CHICAGO CUBS LAST REIGNED SUPREME.

MANY CHICAGOANS HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF THIS WAREHOUSE PARKING LOT.

THAT'S BECAUSE, AS OUR TIME MACHINE SHOWS US, THIS WAS ONCE A MINI-EDEN!

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF PRISTINE WISCONSIN WILDERNESS TRANSPLANTED TO THE CITY.

IT WAS ADJACENT TO THE OLSON RUG COMPANY'S PLANT.

THE COMPANY PRESIDENT WALTER E. OLSON CREATED THE PARK IN 1935 FOR HIS EMPLOYEES.

HE MODELED IT ON THE AREA AROUND HIS VACATION HOME.

OLSON PLANTED THOUSANDS OF PERENNIALS, AND A VARIETY OF PINE TREES.

THERE WAS A ROCK GARDEN, A DUCK POND AND THE CENTERPIECE OF IT ALL, A THREE STORY TALL WATERFALL!

THE PARK ALSO HAD A NATIVE AMERICAN THEME, WITH STATUES OF INDIANS, A CANOE AND A TEEPEE.

THE YEAR IT OPENED, 1935, MARKED THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE YEAR NATIVE AMERICANS GAVE UP THEIR LAND IN THE CHICAGO REGION.

AT THE PARK'S DEDICATION, A CEREMONY WAS HELD SYMBOLICALLY DEEDING THIS LITTLE PATCH OF LAND BACK TO THE NATIVE AMERICANS.

OLSON EVENTUALLY DECIDED TO OPEN HIS PARK TO THE PUBLIC, FREE OF CHARGE.

AND NEIGHBORHOOD FAMILIES ENJOYED IT FOR DECADES.

COLONEL ROBERT MCCORMICK BUILT TRIBUNE TOWER IN 1925 AS A SPECTACULAR HEADQUARTERS FOR HIS MEDIA EMPIRE.

REMARKABLY, COLONEL MCCORMICK WAS NOT THE FIRST ONE IN HIS FAMILY TO BUILD A CORPORATE EMPIRE ON THIS LAND.

BACK IN 1847 HIS GREAT UNCLE CYRUS MCCORMICK BUILT A FACTORY RIGHT HERE THAT REVOLUTIONIZED AGRICULTURE ALL OVER THE WORLD.

THE FACTORY CHURNED OUT MECHANICAL REAPERS.

MCCORMICK HAD BUILT THE FIRST ONE ON HIS FATHER'S VIRGINIA FARM WHEN HE WAS JUST 22 YEARS OLD.

HE MOVED HIS OPERATION TO CHICAGO TO BE CLOSER TO THE VAST MIDWESTERN GRAIN FIELDS.

EVEN THE EARLIEST MODEL REAPER WAS FIVE TIMES FASTER THAN HARVESTING BY HAND.

AND MCCORMICK CAME OUT WITH A NEW, IMPROVED ONE EACH YEAR.

MCCORMICK WAS ALSO AN INNOVATOR IN MARKETING.

HE SENT SOME OF AMERICA'S FIRST TRAVELING SALESMEN OUT INTO THE HINTERLANDS TO WIN OVER SKEPTICAL FARMERS WITH PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS, A MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE, AND NO-HAGGLE PRICING.

THOUSANDS WERE SOLD ALLOWING FARMERS TO PLANT MORE GRAIN WITH FEWER WORKERS, WHICH IN TURN, MOVED AMERICA'S LABOR FORCE OFF THE FARM AND INTO FACTORIES.

CYRUS MCCORMICK'S OWN WORK ETHIC WAS LEGENDARY.

HE DID NOT DRINK, SMOKE OR SWEAR.

WHEN HE DIED IN 1884 HIS LAST WORDS WERE REPORTEDLY "WORK, WORK."

AMAZINGLY, THERE'S AN EVEN EARLIER HISTORY TO THIS PLACE.

AND IT MIGHT BE EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN THE MCCORMICK REAPER WORKS AND THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

THAT'S BECAUSE THIS WAS THE HOME OF CHICAGO'S FIRST PERMANENT, NON-NATIVE RESIDENT.

JEAN BAPTISTE POINT DUSABLE SETTLED HERE IN 1788 TO TRADE WITH THE NATIVE AMERICANS.

AND HE WAS QUITE A SUCCESS.

HE AND HIS NATIVE AMERICAN WIFE CATHERINE BUILT A WELL-FURNISHED FRONTIER ESTATE WITH SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS.

CHICAGO'S FIRST PERMANENT RESIDENT WAS A BLACK MAN.

MANY ACCOUNTS SAY HE WAS FREE BORN IN HAITI, BUT MORE RECENT SCHOLARSHIP SUGGESTS HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN BORN IN KASKASKIA, ILLINOIS BORN TO AN ENSLAVED MOTHER WHO HAD BEEN FREED.

A PLAQUE HERE ERECTED IN 1937 MOSTLY HONORS THE WHITE SETTLER JOHN KINZIE AND HIS FAMILY WHO LATER LIVED IN THE HOUSE.

A NEWER PLAQUE MORE ACCURATELY RECOGNIZES DUSABLE'S HOME SITE.

AND EVEN THOUGH WE REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT DUSABLE LOOKED LIKE, THE CITY INSTALLED A BUST OF HIM IN 2009.

NORTH SHORE COMMUNITIES ARE BLESSED WITH BEAUTIFUL BEACHES AND GORGEOUS LAKE VIEWS.

BUT THIS LOVELY LAKE CAN QUICKLY TURN VIOLENT AND DEADLY.

AS THE SUN ROSE ON SEPTEMBER 8TH, 1860 PEOPLE HERE ON SHORE IN WINNETKA AND IN OTHER COMMUNITIES NEARBY WATCHED HELPLESSLY AS A HORRENDOUS SCENE PLAYED OUT JUST A FEW YARDS OFF SHORE.

HUNDREDS OF SHIPWRECK VICTIMS WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES IN THE CHURNING WATER.

THEY HAD BEEN PASSENGERS BOUND FOR MILWAUKEE ON THE LARGE AND LUXURIOUS SIDE WHEEL STEAMER LADY ELGIN.

MANY HAD ATTENDED A POLITICAL RALLY IN CHICAGO THE PREVIOUS EVENING.

THE SHIP HAD DEPARTED CHICAGO IN A BLINDING STORM.

AROUND MIDNIGHT, OFF THE COAST OF WINNETKA, AN OUT OF CONTROL SCHOONER LOADED WITH LUMBER SLAMMED INTO THE LADY ELGIN AND SAILED OFF INTO THE STORM.

THE LADY ELGIN SANK TOO QUICKLY FOR MOST PASSENGERS TO BOARD LIFEBOATS.

MANY VICTIMS SURVIVED FOR HOURS IN THE RELATIVELY WARM WATER AS THEY WERE BLOWN SOUTH TOWARD SHORE.

BUT AS THEY NEARED LAND, THE POUNDING SURF AND UNDERTOW CLAIMED MANY LIVES.

THE BIGGEST HERO THAT AWFUL DAY WAS A NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STUDENT NAMED EDWARD SPENCER.

SPENCER TIED A ROPE AROUND HIS WAIST, SWAM OUT INTO THE SURF AND RETURNED WITH A SURVIVOR.

HE DID THAT A TOTAL OF 17 TIMES BEFORE HE FINALLY HE COLLAPSED FROM EXHAUSTION.

A WRECK DIVER FOUND THE REMAINS OF THE LADY ELGIN IN 1989.

THE DEBRIS FIELD STRETCHES FROM WINNETKA TO HIGHLAND PARK.

THIS IS ALL THAT'S LEFT OF CABRINI GREEN.

LIKE HOUSING PROJECTS ALL OVER THE CITY, MOST OF IT HAS BEEN TORN DOWN AFTER DECADES OF POVERTY, CRIME, AND DECAY.

FOR MANY RESIDENTS, LIVING IN CABRINI WAS HELLISH.

BUT IN THE 1800'S, LONG BEFORE CABRINI GREEN WAS EVEN BUILT, THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WAS ACTUALLY CALLED "LITTLE HELL."

THE NAME MAY HAVE BEEN A REFERENCE TO THE FLAMES VISIBLE FROM THE NEARBY GASWORKS AND THE STEEL MILLS.

THIS AREA WAS HOME TO CHICAGO'S FIRST STEEL INDUSTRY.

STARTING IN 1857, DECADES BEFORE MILLS WERE BUILT SOUTH OF CHICAGO, MUCH OF THE INDUSTRY WAS ON AND AROUND GOOSE ISLAND, A MAN-MADE ISLAND IN THE FILTHY CHICAGO RIVER.

BUT LITTLE HELL COULD JUST AS EASILY HAVE DESCRIBED THE ROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD NEXT DOOR TO GOOSE ISLAND, WHERE CABRINI GREEN WAS LATER BUILT.

IT WAS PACKED WITH POORLY PAID IMMIGRANT WORKERS, IRISH, SWEDISH, AND, AFTER 1900, SOUTHERN ITALIANS, SO MANY ITALIANS THAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD EARNED ANOTHER NICKNAME: LITTLE SICILY.

ISOLATED AND POOR, THE ENCLAVE DEVELOPED A REPUTATION FOR CRIME.

NEWSPAPERS RAN HEADLINES ABOUT THE "BLACK HAND MURDERS."

"THE BLACK HAND" WAS A THREATENING SYMBOL SCRAWLED AT THE BOTTOM OF EXTORTION LETTERS.

SO MANY MURDERS HAPPENED AT THE CORNER OF CLEVELAND AVENUE AND OAK STREET THAT THE NEWSPAPERS CALLED IT "DEATH CORNER."

OF COURSE, MOST PEOPLE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WEREN'T CRIMINALS; THEY WERE JUST POOR.

DURING WORLD WAR II, THE CHICAGO HOUSING AUTHORITY BULLDOZED THE RUNDOWN NEIGHBORHOOD AND BUILT A LOW-RISE PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT CALLED "THE FRANCIS CABRINI HOMES, NAMED, OF COURSE, FOR CHICAGO'S HOMETOWN SAINT WHOM WE MET EARLIER.

MANY OF THE FIRST RESIDENTS WERE ITALIANS FROM THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD.

IN FACT, A POLICY STIPULATED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE 75% WHITE AND 25% AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO MIRROR THE POPULATION OF THE AREA.

BUT THE PROJECT EXPERIENCED ITS OWN VERSION OF WHITE FLIGHT.

BY THE 1960'S, IT HAD GROWN TO INCLUDE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS AND WAS VIRTUALLY 100% BLACK.

♪ AIN'T WE LUCKY WE GOT 'EM.

♪ THE 1970'S SITCOM "GOOD TIMES" WAS SUPPOSEDLY SET IN CABRINI GREEN.

♪ GOOD TIMES!

♪ UNLIKE OTHER PROJECTS, CABRINI GREEN WAS SURROUNDED BY SOME OF CHICAGO'S WEALTHIEST NEIGHBORHOODS, AND AS THE BUILDINGS HAVE COME DOWN, THE AREA HAS GENTRIFIED.

IF YOU WENT FOR A HIKE IN REDGATE WOODS NEAR LEMONT, YOU MIGHT COME ACROSS THIS MARKER, WARNING OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL UNDER FOOT.

HOW DID NUCLEAR MATERIAL END UP BURIED IN THIS SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN FOREST PRESERVE?

LET'S LOOK BACK TO THE YEAR 1943 TO FIND OUT.

THIS WAS THE SUPER SECRET SITE WHERE THE WORLD'S FIRST NUCLEAR REACTOR WAS RELOCATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

PHYSICIST ENRICO FERMI FIRST BUILT IT UNDER THE STANDS OF U OF C'S OLD FOOTBALL FIELD.

THERE, HE AND HIS TEAM CREATED THE WORLD'S FIRST CONTROLLED NUCLEAR REACTION, AS PART OF THE WORLD WAR II MANHATTAN PROJECT.

THEY WERE RACING AGAINST GERMANY TO DEVELOP AN ATOMIC BOMB.

THE REACTOR WAS MOVED TO THE FOREST PRESERVE A YEAR LATER SO SCIENTISTS COULD CONTINUE THEIR RESEARCH IN A LESS POPULATED AREA FOR SAFETY AND SECRECY.

BACK THEN, THIS FOREST PRESERVE WAS CALLED ARGON WOODS.

THE INSTALLATION WAS CODE-NAMED "SITE A."

AFTER THE WAR, THIS BECAME THE FIRST HOME OF ARGON'S NATIONAL LABORATORY.

WASTE FROM THE REACTORS WAS BURIED NEARBY IN TRENCHES IN A PLACE NICK-NAMED "PLOT M." THE PLOT WAS LATER SURROUNDED BY AN UNDERGROUND CONCRETE WALL KEPT WITH A CONCRETE SLAB AND MARKED WITH A STONE.

A MARKER AT THE OLD SITE A SHOWS WHERE THE REACTORS THEMSELVES WERE BURIED AFTER ARGON MOVED TO ITS NEW LOCATION IN 1954.

IN THE 1970'S, TRACE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL WERE FOUND IN WELLS SERVING THE PICNIC AREA, AND IN 1990 AN ACTUAL CHUNK OF URANIUM WAS FOUND IN THE UNDERBRUSH.

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REMEDIATED THE SITE AND DETERMINED THAT IT WAS SAFEST TO LEAVE THE MATERIAL BURIED.

THE SOKA GAKKAI BUDDHIST CENTER HERE IN THE SOUTH LOOP IS A PLACE WHERE YOU MIGHT COME TO SEEK INNER TRUTH, BUT IN THE 1890'S, A BUILDING STOOD RIGHT THERE THAT WAS FILLED WITH FAKES.

IT WAS A MUSEUM WHERE FOR 50 CENTS CUSTOMERS WERE SHOWN SUCH FAR-FETCHED FAKES, AS UNCLE TOM'S CABIN AND THE SKIN FROM THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

THIS WAS THE LIBBY PRISON WAR MUSEUM.

THE PROPRIETOR WAS A CONFECTIONER NAMED CHARLES GUNTHER WHO HAD SERVED ON A CONFEDERATE STEAM SHIP DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

GUNTHER CREATED THE MUSEUM TO CASH IN ON HIS COLLECTION OF CIVIL WAR MEMORABILIA, WHICH UP TO THEN HAD BEEN A POPULAR ATTRACTION AT HIS CANDY STORE.

THE MUSEUM BUILDING ITSELF WAS A REAL CIVIL WAR PRISON THAT ONCE STOOD IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

GUNTHER HAD IT DISMANTLED IN 1889, SHIPPED BY TRAIN TO CHICAGO, AND REASSEMBLED HERE BRICK BY BRICK.

THE CASTLE-LIKE WALLS SURROUNDING THE MUSEUM WAS AN EMBELLISHMENT ADDED IN CHICAGO.

THE BIGGEST ATTRACTION AT THE MUSEUM WAS GUNTHER'S DISPLAY OF LINCOLN MEMORABILIA, INCLUDING LINCOLN'S DEATHBED AND SOME ARTICLES SAID TO HAVE BEEN BLOODIED DURING THE ASSASSINATION.

THE MUSEUM WAS A HUGE HIT, ESPECIALLY WITH CIVIL WAR VETERANS, SOME OF WHOM WERE HIRED AS TOUR GUIDES.

BUT AS THE CIVIL WAR GENERATION BEGAN DYING OFF, BUSINESS DECLINED.

SO, AFTER A LARGE ARENA IN CHICAGO BURNED DOWN IN 1897, THE ADAPTABLE GUNTHER DECIDED TO CONVERT LIBBY PRISON TO A STADIUM AND CONVENTION HALL WITH A CAPACITY OF 15,000.

IT OPENED IN 1900, RENAMED THE COLISEUM.

GUNTHER HAD STRUCK GOLD AGAIN.

THE COLISEUM HOSTED SIX MAJOR PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTIONS, MORE THAN ANY OTHER BUILDING BEFORE OR SENSE.

IT WAS ALSO THE VENUE FOR THE NOTORIOUS FIRST WARD BALL, AN ANNUAL BACCHANAL, HOSTED BY TWO CORRUPT CHICAGO ALDERMEN, WHERE UNDERWORLD TYPES PAID TRIBUTE TO THE CROOKED PAWS WHO PROTECTED THEM.

SOME OF THE EARLIEST AUTO SHOWS WERE HELD HERE, AND IT WAS THE FIRST HOME OF THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS.

DURING THE DEPTHS OF THE DEPRESSION, THE SPORT OF ROLLER DERBY WAS INVENTED BY THE COLISEUM'S EVENT PROMOTER, LEO SELTZER, TO HELP KEEP THE AGING BUILDING ALIVE.

IN 1940, THE AMERICAN NEGRO EXPOSITION, A SORT OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN WORLD'S FAIR, WAS HELD AT THE COLISEUM, WITH APPEARANCES BY DUKE ELLINGTON AND PAUL ROBERSON.

BY THE 1960'S, THE OLD ARENA, PSYCHEDELICALLY RENAMED "THE SYNDROME," WAS HOSTING BIG NAME ROCK BANDS LIKE "THE DOORS, "THE GRATEFUL DEAD," AND JIMMY HENDRICKS.

BUT BY THEN, THE HALL WAS PRETTY RUNDOWN.

SHORTLY AFTER A JAMES TAYLOR AND CAROL KING CONCERT IN 1971, THE CITY CLOSED THE COLISEUM FOR CODE VIOLATIONS AND IT NEVER OPENED TO THE PUBLIC AGAIN.

IT WAS TORN DOWN IN 1982, EXCEPT FOR A FEW FRAGMENTS OF THE FAçADE, WHICH SURVIVED INTO THE 1990'S, GUNTHER'S COLLECTION, FAKES AND ALL, IS NOW HOUSED AT THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM.

YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT TODAY, BUT THIS STREETERVILLE CORNER IS WHERE AMERICA'S FIRST TELEVISED PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE TOOK PLACE.

THE CANDIDATES NEED NO INTRODUCTION.

THE DEBATERS WERE JOHN F. KENNEDY AND RICHARD NIXON AND THEY SQUARED OFF ON SEPTEMBER 26, 1960 IN A CBS TELEVISION STUDIO THAT STOOD RIGHT HERE.

(PRESIDENT NIXON) WE ARE FOR PROGRAMS THAT WILL EXPAND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, THAT WILL GIVE TO ALL AMERICANS THEIR EQUAL CHANCE.

(BAER) THOSE WHO LISTENED ON THE RADIO THOUGHT NIXON WON THE DEBATE, BUT THE 75,000,000 PEOPLE WHO SAW IT ON TV THOUGHT KENNEDY WON.

(PRESIDENT KENNEDY) I KNOW THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY WE WANT TO TURN EVERYTHING OVER TO THE GOVERNMENT; I DON'T AT ALL.

I WANT THE INDIVIDUALS TO MEET THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.

(BAER) HE LOOKED TAN, RELAXED, AND CONFIDENT.

NIXON DECLINED TO WEAR MAKE-UP, LOOKED PALE, SWEATY, AND UNSHAVEN.

KENNEDY TALKED DIRECTLY TO THE CAMERA.

(PRESIDENT KENNEDY) IF WE'RE MOVING AHEAD, THEN I THINK FREEDOM WILL BE SECURE AROUND THE WORLD.

(BAER) NIXON KEPT GLANCING AT THE TIME CLOCK, WHICH MADE HIM LOOK SHIFTY-EYED TO SOME VIEWERS.

(PRESIDENT NIXON) NOW, THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM WILL COST MORE, TOO.

IT WILL COST A MINIMUM OF $4 BILLION A YEAR OR MORE.

(BAER) IN THE END, THE DEBATE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE AFFECTED THE ELECTION, BUT TODAY VOTERS TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WILL DEBATE ON TV, AND THE CANDIDATE HANDLERS PAID JUST AS MUCH ATTENTION TO STYLE AS SUBSTANCE.

THE ENORMOUS BUILDING WHERE NIXON AND KENNEDY SQUARED OFF WASN'T ORIGINALLY DESIGNED AS A TELEVISION STUDIO.

IT WAS BUILT IN 1924 AS A FANCY HORSEBACK RIDING CLUB FOR CHICAGO'S ELITE.

IT WAS CALLED THE RIDING CLUB OF CHICAGO.

THE WEALTHY MEMBERS COULD PLAY POLO, WATCH HORSE SHOWS, RIDE TO MUSIC FROM A $50,000 PIPE ORGAN, AND RELAX IN THE TURKISH BATH.

BUT WITHIN A FEW YEARS, THE RIDING CLUB WAS GONE AND THE BUILDING HAD BEEN CONVERTED INTO A VAST ICE SKATING ARENA.

THE RINK HOSTED ICE SHOWS, OLYMPIC TRY-OUTS, AND U.S.

FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS.

CBS BOUGHT THE BUILDING IN 1954 AND CONVERTED IT TO RADIO AND TV STUDIOS WHERE THE DEBATES WERE HELD.

MANY PEOPLE SAY CROWN HALL AT THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IS ARCHITECT MIES VAN DER ROHE'S FINEST BUILDING.

TO MAKE ROOM FOR MIES' MINIMALIST MASTERPIECE IN 1952, AN IMPORTANT PART OF CHICAGO'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY FELL TO THE WRECKING BALL.

IT WAS THE ENORMOUS MECCA FLATS APARTMENT BUILDING FROM 1891.

THE MECCA WAS ARCHITECTURALLY IMPORTANT IN ITS OWN RIGHT.

ITS FOUR FLOORS OF APARTMENTS OPENED ONTO SOARING SKYLIT INTERIOR COURTS RINGED BY SO-CALLED PROMENADE BALCONIES.

AND THE BUILDING'S U-SHAPED PLAN BECAME THE PROTOTYPE FOR COURTYARD BUILDINGS ALL OVER CHICAGO.

BUT THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MECCA WAS ITS HISTORY.

WHEN IT OPENED, IT WAS WHITES ONLY, BUT AS THE GREAT MIGRATION BROUGHT WAVES OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD, IT BECAME A CENTER OF BLACK LIFE.

SINCE AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE DENIED HOUSING IN OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS, APARTMENTS THAT WERE SUBDIVIDED IN THE MECCA BECAME OVERCROWDED.

THOSE PROMENADE BALCONIES OFFERED MECCA DWELLERS EASY ACCESS TO EACH OTHER'S PRIVATE LIVES AND THE BUILDING DEVELOPED A REPUTATION FOR SOAP OPERA STYLE AFFAIRS AND DOMESTIC DISPUTES.

LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE WAS LIVELY, TOO.

THE MECCA SAT RIGHT ON THE STROLL, A STRIP OF SOUTH STATE STREET THAT WAS HOME TO JAZZ CLUBS FEATURING HEADLINERS LIKE LOUIE ARMSTRONG AND JELLY ROLL MORTON.

IT WAS SAID THAT IF YOU HELD A HORN UP AT 35TH AND STATE IT WOULD PLAY ITSELF.

MISFORTUNES OF THE MECCA INSPIRED AT LEAST TWO BLUES SONGS IN THOSE CLUBS.

[SINGING] POET GWENDOLYN BROOKS GOT A JOB AT THE MECCA IN 1936 WORKING AS A SECRETARY FOR A SPIRITUAL ADVISOR WHO SOLD CHARMS AND POTIONS BY MAIL.

BROOKS DESCRIBED THE BUILDING AS BLEAK.

DECADES LATER, SHE WROTE A POEM CALLED "IN THE MECCA" ABOUT A CHILD FOUND MURDERED THERE.

STARTING IN THE 1940'S, THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LEVELED MUCH OF THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD FOR A NEW CAMPUS DESIGNED BY MIES VAN DER ROHE IN HIS SPARTAN STYLE.

BLACK LEADERS ARGUED THAT TEARING DOWN THE MECCA WOULD ONLY MAKE THE HOUSING CRISIS WORSE, BUT AFTER A LONG PRESERVATION BATTLE, IT WAS DEMOLISHED.

WHEN YOU THINK OF LUXURY RESORT DESTINATIONS, CHANCES ARE YOU DON'T THINK OF THE NORTH END OF LAKE SHORE DRIVE, BUT UNTIL THIS HIGHWAY WAS EXTENDED HERE IN THE 1950'S, THIS WAS THE HOME OF A LAVISH AND WILDLY POPULAR RESORT.

IT WAS CALLED THE EDGEWATER BEACH.

THE 400 ROOM SPANISH BAROQUE-STYLE BUILDING IN ALL ITS PINK, STUCK-OUT GLORY, OPENED IN 1916.

IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE GO-TO ARCHITECT OF CHICAGO'S SUPER RICH BENJAMIN MARSHALL, WHO ALSO DESIGNED THE DRAKE, THE BLACKSTONE, AND MANY LUXURY APARTMENT BUILDINGS.

THE EDGEWATER BEACH HOTEL'S COOL, BREEZY LAKEFRONT LOCATION DREW PATRONS FROM ALL OVER THE MIDWEST DURING STEAMY SUMMER MONTHS TO ENJOY ITS THOUSAND-FOOT BOARDWALK AND PRIVATE BEACH.

IT ALSO ATTRACTED HOLLYWOOD CELEBS LIKE BETTY DAVIS AND MARILYN MONROE, BASEBALL STARS PLAYING AT NEARBY WRIGLEY FIELD INCLUDING LOU GEHRIG AND BABE RUTH, AND PRESIDENTS FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT AND DWIGHT EISENHOWER.

THE HOTEL PRESENTED ELABORATE FLOORSHOWS ON A MARBLE DANCE FLOOR ALONG WITH THE BIGGEST NAMES IN BIG BANDS.

MANY OF THE SHOWS WERE BROADCAST LIVE ON NBC AND THE HOTEL'S OWN RADIO STATION WEBH.

THE ELEGANT MARINE DINING ROOM WITH ITS STRICT DRESS CODE SEATED 1200.

THE YACHT CLUB WAS A FULL NAUTICAL EXPERIENCE WITH A PAINTED OCEAN THAT MOVED UP AND DOWN OUTSIDE THE WINDOWS.

PATRONS ENTERED ON A WOBBLY GANGPLANK TO THE SOUND OF THE SURF, WHICH WAS ACTUALLY MADE BY PEBBLES ROLLING ON A TRAY UNDERNEATH.

THE HOTEL WAS SUCH A HIT THAT WITHIN EIGHT YEARS A 600-ROOM EDITION WAS BUILT, CONNECTED TO THE ORIGINAL HOTEL BY A CONCOURSE GLAMOROUSLY NAMED "THE PASSAGGIO."

AN EMERALD GREEN PRIVATE COACH WHISKED VISITORS DOWNTOWN.

BY THE 1950'S, THE HOTEL WAS STARTING TO FEEL A LITTLE LIKE A RELIC FROM ANOTHER ERA AND AIR-CONDITIONING, TELEVISION, AND AIR TRAVEL WERE GIVING PEOPLE OTHER OPTIONS.

BUT IT WAS THE CITY'S DECISION TO EXTEND LAKE SHORE DRIVE THAT SPELLED THE END.

THE HIGHWAY CUT OFF THE HOTEL FROM THE LAKEFRONT.

BY 1967, THE HOTEL WAS BANKRUPT.

IT WAS TORN DOWN IN 1971.

THE ONLY REMAINING BUILDING IS THE EDGEWATER APARTMENTS, BUILT IN 1928, A REMINDER OF THE GLAMOROUS DAYS GONE BY ON THE SPARKLY SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

'GLAMOROUS' IS NOT EXACTLY A WORD YOU WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE THIS NORTHBROOK CHAIN HOTEL.

BUT OUR TIME MACHINE SHOWS US THAT IN 1962 THERE WAS A MOB OWNED NIGHTSPOT HERE WHERE THE RAT PACK PERFORMED.

THANK YOU.

IT WAS CALLED THE VILLA VENICE, AND IT'S OUT OF THE WAY LOCATION ON THE DES PLAINES RIVER ALLOWED ITS OWNER, THE MOBSTER SAM GIANCANA, TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AWAY FROM THE PRYING EYES OF THE POLICE.

THE RESTAURANT OFFERED RIDES IN A REAL VENETIAN GONDOLA, VEGAS-STYLE FLOOR SHOWS DIRECTED BY A CHARACTER NAMED PAPA BOUCHE GAMBLING AT A REMOTE LOCATION SERVED BY A SHUTTLE BUS.

AND BIG NAME ENTERTAINMENT.

THIS RECORDING OF FRANK SINATRA, DEAN MARTIN AND SAMMY DAVIS JR., WAS MADE DURING THE RAT PACK'S WEEKLONG ENGAGEMENT AT THE VILLA VENICE IN 1962.

(DEAN MARTIN) I READ IN THE PAPER THAT THEY RAIDED SOME MYTHICAL DICE GAME OUT HERE.

SO I SAID TO THE DRIVER, "WHEN YOU SEE A BUNCH OF COPS STANDING AROUND, THAT'S WHERE WE GO."

(BAER) THE GIG WAS PAYBACK ACCORDING TO SINATRA'S DAUGHTER TINA.

SHE SAID GIANCANA HAD HELPED TO GET OUT THE UNION VOTE FOR JOHN F. KENNEDY IN 1960 AT SINATRA'S REQUEST, SO SINATRA OWED HIM A FAVOR.

THE FBI SOMETIMES STAKED OUT GATHERINGS AT THE CLUB TO OBSERVE CAMERA-SHY GUESTS AS THEY ENTERED.

THE VILLA VENICE BURNED DOWN IN A SUSPICIOUS KITCHEN FIRE IN 1967.

GIANCANA WAS MURDERED EIGHT YEARS LATER AS HE WAS COOKING IN HIS OAK PARK KITCHEN.

THIS IS WHERE PERSHING ROAD CROSSES THE DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY.

IF WE WERE RIGHT HERE IN 1920, WE'D BE IN THE OUTFIELD BLEACHERS WATCHING A NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL GAME.

THIS WAS SCHORLING PARK HOME OF THE CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS.

THE FIELD WAS BUILT IN 1900 AS THE FIRST HOME OF THE WHITE SOX, BUT WHEN THE SOX MOVED TO COMISKEY IN 1910, THE CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS TOOK OVER THE FIELD.

THEIR OWNER AND MANAGER WAS A LEGENDARY PITCHER AND SHREWD BUSINESSMAN NAMED RUBE FOSTER.

BACK THEN AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE BANNED FROM PLAYING ON WHITE PROFESSIONAL TEAMS, SO THE GIANTS AND OTHER ALL-BLACK TEAMS, TOURED THE COUNTRY PLAYING WHITE TEAMS IN EXHIBITION GAMES.

IN 1920, FOSTER DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO GO PRO.

HE LED THE CREATION OF THE NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE AND BECAME ITS FIRST PRESIDENT AND TREASURER.

THE GIANTS WERE CHAMPIONS OF THE FIRST THREE NNL SEASONS.

THE HISTORIC SEGREGATION IN THIS AREA GOES WAY BEYOND BASEBALL.

THE DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY FOLLOWS AN INVISIBLE LINE THAT FOR DECADES SEPARATED BLACK FROM WHITE.

TO THE WEST WAS BRIDGEPORT, AN IRISH ENCLAVE AND THE ANCESTRAL HOME OF THE DALEY DYNASTY.

TO THE EAST WAS "THE BLACK BELT", WHICH I TOLD YOU ABOUT EARLIER.

TENSIONS CAME TO A HEAD BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE COMMUNITIES ON THE SOUTH SIDE IN 1919 WHEN A FIVE-DAY RACE RIOT LEFT 38 DEAD AND MORE THAN 500 INJURED.

LET'S GO BACK TO THE YEAR 1962, WHEN THAT OLD IMAGINARY LINE BECAME CONCRETE -- LITERALLY.

THAT'S THE YEAR THE DAN RYAN OPENED.

LIKE A YAWNING MOTE, THE SUNKEN EXPRESSWAY -- AS WIDE AS 14 LANES -- DRAMATICALLY REINFORCED THE SEPARATION OF HISTORICALLY WHITE AND BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS.

BUT THE RYAN WASN'T ORIGINALLY PLANNED TO GO HERE!

THE FIRST PROPOSED ROUTE OF THE SOUTH EXPRESSWAY --LATER CALLED THE DAN RYAN -- RAN RIGHT THROUGH BRIDGEPORT, IT WOULD HAVE OBLITERATED A SIGNIFICANT PART OF MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD AND POWER BASE.

DALEY AND THE CITY COUNCIL HAD THE HIGHWAY MOVED ABOUT EIGHT BLOCKS EAST.

THEIR OFFICIAL REASON WAS FOR BETTER TRAFFIC DISTRIBUTION.

THE HIGHWAY'S NEW LOCATION WAS ALSO ADJACENT TO LAND ALREADY BEING CLEARED FOR THE ROBERT TAYLOR HOMES -- 28 HULKING 16-STORY BUILDINGS THAT STRETCHED FOR 2 MILES ALONG THE DAN RYAN AND OPENED THE SAME YEAR, 1962.

IT WAS THE NATION'S LARGEST PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT, PART OF THE CITY'S IDEALISTIC URBAN RENEWAL PROGRAM; AND IT WIPED OUT A HUGE SWATH OF WHAT HAD COME TO BE CALLED THE FEDERAL STREET SLUM.

MAYOR DALEY CLEARLY SAW URBAN RENEWAL AND HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION AS THE SOLUTION TO THE RAPID DECLINE OF POOR NEIGHBORHOODS.

(MAYOR DALEY) WE MUST HAVE SLUM CLEARANCE.

WHILE WE ARE CLEARING THE SLUMS, WE MUST PREVENT THE SPREAD OF BLIGHT INTO THE OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS.

(BAER) BUT THE CITY FAILED MISERABLY AT MAINTAINING THE BUILDINGS.

ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING THEY WERE PLAGUED BY BROKEN ELEVATORS AND HEATING SYSTEMS AND A LACK OF SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS.

THE CONCENTRATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN SINGLE-PARENT HOMES LED TO VANDALISM AND VIOLENCE.

BY THE 1970S WORKING CLASS FAMILIES HAD FLED.

MANY UNITS WERE VACANT AND VIRTUALLY ALL RESIDENTS WERE ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.

IN THE LATE 1990S, LESS THAN 40 YEARS AFTER THEY OPENED, THE CITY BEGAN DEMOLISHING ALL OF ITS HIGH-RISE PUBLIC HOUSING.

TODAY THE SITE OF ROBERT TAYLOR HOMES REMAINS MOSTLY VACANT.

THIS WHERE THE DIXIE HIGHWAY PASSES THROUGH FAR SOUTH SUBURBAN CRETE.

BACK IN THE DAYS BEFORE INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS WERE BUILT, THIS WAS THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN LONG DISTANCE CAR TRAVEL.

CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN 1915, EVENTUALLY ALLOWING MOTORISTS TO DRIVE FROM CHICAGO ALL THE WAY TO FLORIDA ON A PAVED ROAD.

DH SYMBOLS PAINTED ON ROADSIDE TELEPHONE POLES HELPED THEM FIND THEIR WAY.

LONG DISTANCE DRIVING WAS AN OUTRAGEOUS NOTION BACK THEN, AND IT TOOK AN OUTRAGEOUS PERSON TO MAKE IT A REALITY -- AN INDIANAPOLIS CAR SALESMAN NAMED CARL FISHER.

FISHER WAS KNOWN FOR PUBLICITY STUNTS LIKE ATTACHING A CAR TO A HOT AIR BALLOON TO PUBLICIZE HIS DEALERSHIP.

HE STRUCK IT RICH MARKETING A REVOLUTIONARY AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT POWERED BY COMPRESSED GAS.

AND BUILT THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TO PROMOTE AUTOMOBILE RACING.

FISHER AND SOME PARTNERS MAPPED AND PAVED AMERICA'S FIRST COAST TO COAST AUTO ROUTE, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

THEN HE STARTED BUILDING A TROPICAL RESORT IN FLORIDA CALLED MIAMI BEACH.

HE BUILT THE DIXIE HIGHWAY SO PEOPLE COULD GET THERE BY CAR.

BUT CARL FISHER WASN'T THE FIRST COLORFUL CHARACTER TO BLAZE THIS TRAIL.

LET'S GO BACK TO THE YEAR 1820 TO MEET AN EARLIER ONE.

HIS NAME WAS GURDON S. HUBBARD.

HE HAD ARRIVED AT THE TINY FRONTIER OUTPOST OF CHICAGO IN 1818 AT AGE 16 TO WORK AS A FUR TRADER FOR JOHN JACOB ASTOR.

HUBBARD ESTABLISHED TRADING POSTS ALL ALONG THIS OLD TRAIL WHICH LOCALS CALLED THE VINCENNES TRACE BECAUSE IT LED TO VINCENNES, INDIANA.

IN FACT IT'S STILL CALLED "VINCENNES" IN BLUE ISLAND AND CHICAGO.

HUBBARD TRAVELED THE VINCENNES TRACE SO FREQUENTLY AND WITH SUCH ENERGY THAT THE NATIVE AMERICANS CALLED HIM "SWIFT WALKER."

AND SOON PEOPLE STARTED CALLING THE ROAD HUBBARD'S TRAIL.

HUBBARD'S LIFE MIRRORED THE EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF CHICAGO ITSELF.

AS THE CITY CHANGED FROM A TRADING POST TO A BURGEONING METROPOLIS, HUBBARD GAVE UP FUR TRADING AND BECAME A LAND SPECULATOR, LAKE SHIPPER, MEAT PACKER, BANKER AND STATE LEGISLATOR!

BY 1834 THE UNPAVED TRAIL, WHICH WOULD LATER BE PART OF THE DIXIE HIGHWAY, WAS DESIGNATED AN OFFICIAL STATE ROAD.

HERE IN CRETE YOU CAN SEE ONE OF THE MILESTONES THE STATE ERECTED TO MARK THE HIGHWAY.

THE STATE ROAD LED ALL THE WAY TO DOWNTOWN CHICAGO, WHICH IS WHERE STATE STREET GETS ITS NAME.

YOU MIGHT GUESS THAT THIS WEST LOOP LOFT BUILDING HAS AN INDUSTRIAL HISTORY.

BUT IN 1928 THIS WAS THE HOME OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE... BARN DANCE!

IT WAS THE WLS BARN DANCE, A WILDLY POPULAR RADIO PROGRAM FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS THAT PUMPED COUNTRY MUSIC INTO MILLIONS OF AMERICAN HOMES.

THE SHOW WAS BROADCAST NATIONWIDE OUT OF STUDIOS HERE IN THE PRAIRIE FARMER BUILDING, HEADQUARTERS OF PRAIRIE FARMER MAGAZINE.

THE MAGAZINE WAS A MUST-READ AMONG MIDWESTERN FARMERS.

PRAIRIE FARMER BOUGHT RADIO STATION WLS IN 1928 FROM SEARS ROEBUCK AND COMPANY.

THE CALL LETTERS WLS STOOD FOR WORLD'S LARGEST STORE.

THE BARN DANCE DEBUTED JUST A WEEK AFTER THE STATION WENT ON THE AIR.

SEARS MANAGEMENT WAS APPALLED AT WHAT IT CONSIDERED "LOW BROW" MUSIC, UNTIL THEY SAW HOW MUCH THE AUDIENCE LOVED IT.

AFTER PRAIRIE FARMER BOUGHT WLS, IT QUICKLY LEARNED THAT THE NEW STUDIOS IT HAD BUILT WEREN'T BIG ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE DEMAND FOR SEATS IN THE STUDIO AUDIENCE.

SO IN 1931 WLS MOVED THE SHOW TO THE EIGHTH STREET THEATRE, FILLING 1200 SEATS TWICE EVERY SATURDAY FOR LIVE BROADCASTS.

GENE AUTRY WAS A REGULAR, SO WAS A YOUNG ANDY WILLIAMS.

PRAIRIE FARMER'S OWNER BURRIDGE BUTLER STRICTLY POLICED THE CONTENT OF THE BARN DANCE AND ALL OF WLS TO MAKE SURE IT WAS CLEAN, FAMILY-ORIENTED FUN.

BUT BY THE LATE 1950S TIMES WERE CHANGING AND AUDIENCES WERE DWINDLING.

THE SHOW WENT OFF THE AIR IN 1960 AFTER PRAIRIE FARMER SOLD THE STATION AND WLS SWITCHED ITS FORMAT TO BECOME A ROCK MUSIC POWERHOUSE.

THERE'S AN EVEN EARLIER HISTORY TO THE PRAIRIE FARMER BUILDING.

BACK IN THE 1850S THIS WAS A HIGH-CLASS RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT.

AND A PARTICULARLY PROMINENT PERSON LIVED RIGHT THERE.

MARY TODD LINCOLN MOVED INTO A HOME HERE AFTER HER HUSBAND WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1865.

BUT SHE COULDN'T AFFORD THE FANCY HOUSE AND BEFORE LONG SHE MOVED OUT.

THREE YEARS LATER HER SON TAD DIED, HER EMOTIONAL STATE DETERIORATED AND SHE WAS BRIEFLY CONFINED TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION.

HER FORMER HOME WAS DEMOLISHED AS THE WEST LOOP BECAME AN INDUSTRIAL AREA STARTING IN THE 1890S.

MOST PEOPLE THINK OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE DEEP SOUTH IN THE 1960S.

BUT ONE OF AMERICA'S FIRST NON-VIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS FOR EQUAL RIGHTS HAPPENED RIGHT HERE ON THE SOUTH SIDE IN 1943.

BACK THEN THIS WAS THE CORNER OF 47TH AND KIMBARK, HOME OF THE JACK SPRATT COFFEE HOUSE.

A 22-YEAR-OLD AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN NAMED JAMES FARMER AND A WHITE FRIEND TRIED TO BUY A DONUT THERE.

THE MAN BEHIND THE COUNTER TOLD THEM THEY'D HAVE TO PAY A DOLLAR EVEN THOUGH DONUTS COST ONLY A NICKEL.

WHEN FARMER PROTESTED, THE MAN THREW THEIR MONEY ON THE FLOOR AND KICKED THEM OUT.

THE RESTAURANT PICKED THE WRONG PERSON TO OFFEND.

FARMER WAS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER AND CAME BACK WITH AN INTERRACIAL GROUP OF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO STUDENTS FROM HIS COMMITTEE ON RACIAL EQUALITY OR "CORE".

THE GROUP'S MISSION WAS "THE COMPLETE ERASURE OF THE COLOR LINE BY MEANS OF NON-VIOLENT ACTION."

THEY TOOK UP ALMOST ALL THE SEATS IN THE RESTAURANT.

THE MANAGEMENT REFUSED TO SERVE THEM AND THEY REFUSED TO LEAVE.

THE RESTAURANT MANAGER CALLED THE POLICE.

BUT THE OFFICERS SAID THE RESTAURANT HAD NO RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO THE PROTESTERS AND TOLD THEM TO SOLVE THEIR OWN PROBLEM.

THE MANAGEMENT GAVE IN AND SERVED THE PROTESTERS.

CORE MEMBERS CAME BACK SEVERAL TIMES IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS AND THEY WERE NEVER DENIED SERVICE AGAIN.

FARMER AND CORE WENT ON TO PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE FREEDOM RIDES AND OTHER IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIONS.

FARMER WAS AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM IN 1998.

WHEN THIS BIG APARTMENT BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1969 IT COMPLETELY WIPED OUT A BLOCK OF WELLS STREET.

ON THAT STREET WAS A LITTLE CHINESE LAUNDRY THAT LOOMS LARGE IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN COMEDY.

NO, MIKE NICHOLS, ELAINE MAY, AND ALAN ARKIN DIDN'T DRY CLEAN THEIR CLOTHES THERE.

IN 1959, THEY AND OTHERS FOUNDED THE LEGENDARY SECOND CITY IN A CONVERTED CHINESE LAUNDRY.

THE SECOND CITY BECAME A TRAINING GROUND FOR MANY SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE GREATS INCLUDING JOHN BELUSHI, BILL MURRAY, CHRIS FARLEY AND TINA FEY.

MANY SECOND CITY FOUNDERS WERE BRAINY TYPES WHO HAD STARTED WORKING TOGETHER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

THEIR DIRECTOR, PAUL SILLS, HAD DEVELOPED TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVISING SATIRICAL SCENES BASED ON AUDIENCE SUGGESTIONS.

THE SECOND CITY MOVED DOWN THE STREET FROM THE LAUNDRY IN 1967.

THE FRONT OF THEIR BUILDING IS DECORATED WITH FRAGMENTS FROM ARCHITECT LOUIS SULLIVAN'S GARRICK THEATRE, WHICH WAS TORN DOWN A FEW YEARS EARLIER.

AS CITY ALLEYS GO, THIS ONE LOOKS PRETTY SAFE.

BUT A GRIM EVENT HAPPENED HERE IN 1887 AND IT REVERBERATED AROUND THE WORLD.

FOUR ANARCHISTS WERE HANGED HERE FOR THEIR SUPPOSED INVOLVEMENT IN THE HAYMARKET RIOT.

BACK THEN THE ALLEY WAS A COURTYARD BETWEEN THE COOK COUNTY COURTHOUSE WHERE THE ANARCHISTS WERE TRIED AND THE JAIL WHERE THEY WERE HELD.

THE RIOT HAPPENED ON MAY 4TH, 1886, WHEN SOMEONE THREW A DYNAMITE BOMB AS POLICE TRIED TO BREAK UP A PEACEFUL LABOR RALLY AT CHICAGO'S HAYMARKET JUST WEST OF THE LOOP.

SEVEN POLICEMEN AND AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF DEMONSTRATORS WERE KILLED.

IT WAS NEVER DETERMINED WHO THREW THE BOMB.

BUT IN THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED, POLICE ARRESTED HUNDREDS OF KNOWN ANARCHISTS AND LABOR ACTIVISTS.

MANY OF THEM HAD NOT EVEN ATTENDED THE RALLY BUT AT THE URGING OF CHICAGO'S BUSINESS LEADERS AND NEWSPAPERS, EIGHT WERE TRIED FOR MURDER AND CONVICTED.

SEVEN WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH.

FOUR OF THEM WERE EXECUTED ON NOVEMBER 11TH, 1887.

AFTER THAT, GOVERNOR JOHN PETER ALTGELD REVIEWED THE CASE AND PARDONED THE REMAINING ANARCHISTS CALLING THE TRAIL UNFAIR.

HE WAS NEVER ELECTED TO POLITICAL OFFICE AGAIN.

A MONUMENT TO THE FALLEN POLICEMEN WAS ERECTED AT THE SCENE OF THE RIOT.

AFTER IT WAS BOMBED TWICE DURING THE VIETNAM ERA IT WAS MOVED TO CHICAGO POLICE HEADQUARTERS ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

A NEW MONUMENT AT THE SITE OF THE RIOT MEMORIALIZES BOTH THE POLICE AND LABOR ACTIVISTS.

THE OLD COURTHOUSE WHERE THE HAYMARKET TRIAL TOOK PLACE WAS REPLACED WITH THIS NEW, BIGGER ONE IN 1892.

INSIDE THE BUILDING WAS A NEWSPAPER REPORTERS' ROOM THAT BECAME THE SETTING FOR THE PLAY AND FILM "THE FRONT PAGE."

THE STORY WAS WRITTEN BY REAL-LIFE REPORTERS BEN HECHT AND CHARLES MACARTHUR, BASED ON THEIR EXPERIENCES COVERING TRIALS IN THE BUILDING.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO HAS A PARTICULARLY HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FOREIGN STUDENTS.

THAT'S SORT OF FITTING, CONSIDERING THE PLACE WHERE UIC IS LOCATED WAS ONCE CALLED THE ELLIS ISLAND OF THE MIDWEST.

CHICAGO'S FIRST GREEKTOWN WAS ABOUT WHERE THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE CAMPUS IS TODAY.

SINCE THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS ROUGHLY TRIANGULAR, IT WAS CALLED "THE DELTA" AFTER THE TRIANGULAR GREEK LETTER.

LITTLE ITALY STOOD WHERE A LARGE PART OF THE CAMPUS IS TODAY.

THIS WAS CHICAGO'S LARGEST ITALIAN COMMUNITY, ONCE HOME TO ABOUT A THIRD OF THE CITY'S ITALIANS.

THE OLD MAXWELL STREET DISTRICT, WHICH WAS EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWISH AND LATER AFRICAN AMERICAN, STOOD ON WHAT IS NOW THE SOUTHERN END OF CAMPUS.

EACH OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS WAS A PORT OF ENTRY WHERE NEW IMMIGRANTS COULD FIND WORK AND HOUSING AS THEY ACCLIMATED TO THEIR ADOPTED COUNTRY.

JANE ADDAMS ESTABLISHED HULL HOUSE AND LIVED AMONG THESE POOR IMMIGRANTS TO PROVIDE MUCH-NEEDED SOCIAL SERVICES.

BUT AFTER WWII THESE CROWDED ENCLAVES WERE DECLARED URBAN RENEWAL ZONES.

FIRST CAME THE EXPRESSWAYS.

PARTS OF EACH NEIGHBORHOOD WERE LEVELED IN THE 1950S AND 60S TO BUILD THE EISENHOWER, THE DAN RYAN AND THE HUGE CIRCLE INTERCHANGE THAT CONNECTS THEM.

THEN IN 1961 MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY ANNOUNCED PLANS TO DEMOLISH EVEN MORE OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS AND BUILD THE LONG DREAMED-OF CHICAGO CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

(REPORTER) THIS REPRESENTS THE CONCLUSION OF SOME 30 YEARS OF PLANNING.

IS THAT CORRECT?

(MAYOR DALEY) THERE'S OVER 30 YEARS OF PLANNING AND DISCUSSING AND SURVEYING AND HOPING THAT SOMEDAY WE WOULD HAVE A BRANCH UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IN CHICAGO.

(BAER) IT WOULD BE NAMED IN HONOR OF THE HIGHWAY INTERCHANGE, "CIRCLE CAMPUS".

BUT THE NEIGHBORS WHO HADN'T ALREADY BEEN DISPLACED VOWED TO FIGHT.

THEIR LEADER WAS THE OWNER OF A LOCAL ITALIAN RESTAURANT NAMED FLORENCE SCALA.

THEY STAGED PROTESTS AND FILED LAWSUITS.

BUT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT'S REFUSAL TO HEAR THEIR CASE IN 1963 CLEARED THE WAY FOR CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION.

(MAYOR DALEY) AS WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THIS GREAT UNIVERSITY, IT WILL ALSO BE THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT RENAISSANCE AND THE REBUILDING OF THE ENTIRE WEST SIDE OF CHICAGO.

(BAER) ABOUT 8,000 PEOPLE AND MORE THAN 600 BUSINESSES WERE RELOCATED TO MAKE WAY FOR AN AUSTERE MODERN CAMPUS DESIGNED BY WALTER NETSCH OF SKIDMORE, OWINGS AND MERRILL.

IT WON DESIGN AWARDS, BUT WAS ALSO CRITICIZED FOR ITS COLD CONCRETE AND FOR BEING WALLED-OFF FROM THE SURROUNDING CITY.

PEOPLE CALLED IT "FORTRESS ILLINI."

TODAY GREEKTOWN HAS MOVED A LITTLE NORTH ALONG HALSTED STREET AND IS MOSTLY A RESTAURANT DISTRICT.

REMNANTS OF LITTLE ITALY SURVIVE TO THE WEST, MOSTLY AROUND TAYLOR STREET.

AS FOR THE MAXWELL STREET, ONLY A FEW FACADES WERE PRESERVED.

A SOMEWHAT SANITIZED VERSION OF THE FAMOUS MAXWELL STREET MARKET MOVED A FEW BLOCKS AWAY IN 1994 AND IS ONLY OPEN ON SUNDAYS.

THIS VERY, VERY TINY HOUSE IN OLD TOWN IS THE 19TH CENTURY EQUIVALENT OF A FEMA TRAILER.

YOU KNOW, THOSE TRAILERS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDED TO PEOPLE LEFT HOMELESS AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA.

SETTING OUR TIME MACHINE BACK TO OCTOBER 1871, HERE, YOU'LL SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

THE AREA LAY IN RUINS AFTER THE CHICAGO FIRE SWEPT THROUGH.

NEARLY A HUNDRED THOUSAND CHICAGOANS HAD LOST THEIR HOMES AND WERE DESPERATELY IN NEED OF SHELTER.

WITHIN DAYS, THE CHICAGO RELIEF AND AID SOCIETY HAD DRAWN UP PLANS FOR TINY FIRE RELIEF COTTAGES.

THOSE LEFT HOMELESS WERE ISSUED PLANS AND MATERIALS, BUT THEY HAD TO BUILD THE COTTAGES THEMSELVES.

THE HOMES CAME IN TWO SIZES.

12 BY 16 FEET AND 20 BY 16 FOR LARGER FAMILIES.

TOTAL COST - $125 - INCLUDING MODEST FURNISHINGS AND A STOVE.

WITHIN A MONTH AND A HALF, 5,200 OF THESE HOUSES WERE CONSTRUCTED.

THEY'RE ALMOST ALL GONE NOW.

AFTER ALL THEY WERE DESIGNED TO BE TEMPORARY.

BUT IF YOU SPOT A REALLY SMALL HOUSE ON CHICAGO'S NORTH SIDE, YOU MIGHT JUST BE LOOKING AT A RARE RELIC FROM THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE.

KIDS LOVE PREHISTORIC ANIMALS, AND I'M SURE THE KIDS HERE AT PRITZKER SCHOOL ARE NO EXCEPTION.

WELL, WAIT TILL THEY TAKE A LOOK AT OUR TIME MACHINE AND DISCOVER THAT RIGHT AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE, A GIANT PREHISTORIC CRITTER DIED RIGHT HERE!

IT WAS A BEAVER.

BUT WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT ONE OF THOSE CUTE LITTLE BUCK-TOOTHED GUYS WE KNOW TODAY.

THIS BEAVER WAS A BEAST -- IN FACT, THE LARGEST RODENT IN NORTH AMERICA IN THE LAST TWO-AND-A-HALF MILLION YEARS!

IT WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SMALL BEAR WITH FRONT TEETH SIX INCHES LONG.

NOW ONE OF THOSE OUTSIZED INCISORS WAS UNEARTHED RIGHT HERE IN 1960 WHEN WORKERS WERE DIGGING THE FOUNDATION FOR THIS SCHOOL.

GIANT BEAVERS - WHICH PALEONTOLOGISTS CALL CASTOROIDES- ROAMED THIS AREA ALONG WITH WOOLY MAMMOTHS AND OTHER PREHISTORIC MONSTERS AFTER THE LAST GLACIER RECEDED ABOUT 12,000 YEARS AGO.

THEY DIED OFF, AS THE CLIMATE WARMED.

ONLY A FRAGMENT WAS UNEARTHED AT PRITZKER SCHOOL, BUT YOU'LL FIND A COMPLETE CASTOROIDES SKELETON AT THE FIELD MUSEUM.

FORD CITY MALL LOOKS LIKE PRETTY MUCH EVERY OTHER MALL.

BUT BACK IN 1943 THE WORKERS HERE WEREN'T SELLING HOT PRETZELS.

THEY WERE MAKING B-29 BOMBER ENGINES.

THIS WAS THE DODGE CHICAGO ENGINE PLANT AND IT WAS HUGE, 6 MILLION SQUARE FEET.

THE BRILLIANT INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECT ALBERT KAHN DESIGNED IT.

KAHN MADE HIS NAME DESIGNING THE REVOLUTIONARY FACTORY WHERE HENRY FORD INSTALLED HIS FIRST MOVING ASSEMBLY LINE.

KAHN OPERATED HIS OWN ARCHITECTURE FIRM LIKE AN ASSEMBLY LINE, WHICH ENABLED HIM TO BUILD THIS WARTIME PLANT IN JUST 18 MONTHS.

ENGINES STARTED ROLLING OFF THE LINE IN 1944.

IN ALL MORE THAN 18,000 WERE MADE HERE FOR 3,600 B-29 BOMBERS.

YOU CAN STILL SEE THE CONCRETE TEST CELLS WHERE EACH ENGINE WAS FIRED UP BEFORE BEING SENT INTO ACTION.

WHEN THE WAR ENDED, THE GOVERNMENT LEASED THE PLANT TO A MAN WHO DREAMED OF BUILDING THE CAR OF TOMORROW.

PRESTON TUCKER RETROFITTED THE PLANT TO BUILD A REAR-ENGINE, TORPEDO-SHAPED DREAM CAR THAT ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN COULD AFFORD AND HE NAMED IT FOR HIMSELF.

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

AND FUTURISTIC SAFETY FEATURES LIKE A PADDED DASHBOARD AND A HEADLIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GRILLE THAT POINTED WHEREVER THE STEERING WHEEL WAS TURNED.

BUT ONLY 51 TUCKERS WERE EVER BUILT.

THE SEC LAUNCHED A HIGHLY PUBLICIZED INVESTIGATION OF TUCKER'S BUSINESS PRACTICES.

AFTER A LENGTHY TRIAL TUCKER WAS CLEARED, BUT BY THEN HE WAS BANKRUPT AND HIS COMPANY WAS GONE.

TUCKER BELIEVED THE BIG AUTOMAKERS HAD CONSPIRED TO BRING HIM DOWN.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY NEXT TOOK OVER THE PLANT TO MAKE MORE AIRPLANE ENGINES, WHICH IS WHERE FORD CITY MALL GETS ITS NAME.

AS PART OF CONVERTING THE FACTORY TO A MALL IN 1963 MANY OF THE BUILDINGS WERE TORN DOWN FOR A VAST PARKING LOT.

BUT THE NORTH END OF THE FACTORY IS STILL A FACTORY.

TODAY TOOTSIE ROLLS ARE MADE THERE ALONG WITH A SWEET ARRAY OF OTHER CONFECTIONS.

WE'RE GOING BACK IN TIME NOW TO THE YEAR 1812 WHEN THIS NEAR SOUTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS A BEACH - IT WAS THE SCENE OF A BLOODY BATTLE THAT WE USED TO CALL THE FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE.

FORT DEARBORN WAS A TINY U.S. OUTPOST ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH OF HERE NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.

DURING THE WAR OF 1812, SOLDIERS WERE ORDERED TO ABANDON THE FORT BECAUSE OF GROWING TENSIONS WITH LOCAL NATIVE AMERICANS.

AN AUGUST 15TH, ABOUT 90 SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS BEGAN MAKING THEIR WAY SOUTH ALONG THE LAKEFRONT HOPING TO REACH THE SAFETY OF FT. WAYNE, IN WHAT IS NOW INDIANA.

BUT LESS THAN TWO MILES INTO THEIR JOURNEY THEY SPOTTED A BAND OF POTAWATOMI INDIANS HIDING IN THE DUNES.

THINKING THEY WERE ABOUT TO BE ATTACKED, THE SOLDIERS CHARGED THE INDIANS.

BUT THEY WERE OUTNUMBERED MORE THAN FIVE TO ONE.

MORE THAN HALF OF THE SOLDIERS AND SETTLERS WERE KILLED.

THE REST WERE TAKEN PRISONER.

NATIVE AMERICANS WON THAT BATTLE, BUT WITHIN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS THEY HAD BEEN OUSTED FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS AND THE BEACH THAT WAS RIGHT HERE WAS SOON TO BECOME AN ELEGANT STREET LINED WITH MANSIONS.

PRAIRIE AVENUE WAS HOME TO CHICAGO'S WEALTHIEST BUSINESS TYCOONS WHO HAD MADE FORTUNES OVERNIGHT IN THE BOOMING YOUNG CITY.

SLEEPING CAR MAGNATE GEORGE PULLMAN'S PALATIAL HOME HAD "A 200-SEAT THEATRE, A BILLIARD ROOM, A BOWLING ALLEY AND A PIPE ORGAN" ACCORDING TO PRAIRIE AVENUE HISTORIAN WILLIAM TYRE.

A NEIGHBORHOOD LANDMARK WAS THE SO-CALLED "MASSACRE TREE" WHICH HAD SUPPOSEDLY BEEN A SAPLING AT THE SCENE OF THE BATTLE OF FORT DEARBORN.

PULLMAN ERECTED A MORE PERMANENT MONUMENT ON HIS PROPERTY.

BUT ITS ONE-SIDED VIEW OF THE CONFLICT PROVED OFFENSIVE AND IT'S NOW IN STORAGE.

DIAGONALLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM PULLMAN'S HOME, FARM-EQUIPMENT MILLIONAIRE JOHN GLESSNER AND HIS WIFE FRANCES HIRED THE FAMOUS ARCHITECT H.H.

RICHARDSON TO DESIGN THIS STARTLING FORTRESS-LIKE MANSION THAT'S NOW A HOUSE MUSEUM.

PRAIRIE AVENUE MILLIONAIRES LIKE MARSHALL FIELD AND PHILIP ARMOUR RETURNED FROM LONG WORK DAYS TO ALMOST NIGHTLY PARTIES IN THEIR LAVISH HOMES.

BUTLERS ANSWERED THEIR DOORS, MAIDS AND VALETS CHANGED THEIR CLOTHES MANY TIMES A DAY AND COACHMEN CHAUFFEURED THEM AROUND TOWN IN FINE CARRIAGES.

BUT PRAIRIE AVENUE'S HEYDAY WAS SHORT-LIVED.

BY THE EARLY 1900S THIS STREET LOOKED VERY DIFFERENT.

THE ELITE HAD DECAMPED TO THE NORTH SIDE.

THEIR FORMER MANSIONS WERE CUT UP INTO BOARDING HOUSES OR ABANDONED.

WHY THE MASS EXODUS OF MILLIONAIRES?

WELL JUST A FEW BLOCKS TO THE WEST A SEEDY VICE DISTRICT TOOK HOLD CALLED "THE LEVEE."

IT WAS LINED WITH GAMBLING DENS, BROTHELS AND SALOONS WITH NAMES LIKE "BUCKET OF BLOOD" AND "BEDBUG ROW."

THE MOST FAMOUS BROTHEL BY FAR WAS THE EVERLEIGH CLUB, OPERATED BY SISTERS MINNA AND ADA EVERLEIGH.

THEY SERVICED CELEBRITIES AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WHO PROTECTED LEVEE BUSINESSES IN EXCHANGE FOR BRIBES.

EVEN CLOSER TO PRAIRIE AVENUE, THE NEWFANGLED AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY STARTED BUILDING DEALERSHIPS AND REPAIR SHOPS ON A LONG, SMOOTH STRETCH OF SOUTH MICHIGAN AVENUE.

MORE THAN A HUNDRED MAKES OF AUTOMOBILES WERE SOLD THERE INCLUDING SOME LONG-LOST BRANDS.

BEFORE LONG, MORE COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION CAME TO THE AREA AND ONE BY ONE THE OLD MANSIONS FELL.

THE REAL ESTATE BOOM AT THE TURN OF THE 21ST CENTURY BREATHED NEW LIFE INTO THE PRAIRIE AVENUE DISTRICT.

THE FEW SURVIVING MANSIONS WERE RESTORED AND CONDOS AND TOWNHOUSES SPROUTED ON LONG ABANDONED LOTS.

AND HALF A BLOCK FROM PULLMAN'S OLD MANSION A PEACEFUL PARK IS NAMED FOR THE BATTLE OF FORT DEARBORN.

BREHON PUB HERE IN RIVER NORTH IS NAMED FOR AN ANCIENT IRISH LEGAL SYSTEM AND IT WAS FOUNDED BY TWO LAWYERS.

KIND OF IRONIC CONSIDERING THAT IN 1977 THE SHADY DEALINGS HERE PUT A LOT OF PEOPLE IN JAIL.

FOR A FEW BRIEF MONTHS IN 1977 THIS WAS THE APTLY-NAMED "MIRAGE TAVERN."

IT WAS REALLY A STING OPERATION BY THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES AND THE BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION OR BGA.

THEY BOUGHT THIS BAR BECAUSE IT WAS LOADED WITH CODE VIOLATIONS.

THE SUN-TIMES' PAM ZEKMAN AND HER BGA COUNTERPART POSING AS A MARRIED COUPLE RUNNING THE BAR.

THE ONLY IMPROVEMENT THEY MADE WAS INSTALLING A SECRET PERCH FOR HIDING THEIR HIDDEN CAMERAS.

THOSE CAMERAS CAUGHT INSPECTOR AFTER INSPECTOR IGNORING EXPOSED WIRING, RATS AND ROACHES AND UNSANITARY PLUMBING IN EXCHANGE FOR BRIBES AS SMALL AS TEN DOLLARS.

A SHADY ACCOUNTANT NICKNAMED "MR. FIXIT" HELPED THEM CHEAT ON THEIR TAXES BY KEEPING A PHONY SET OF BOOKS.

AFTER JUST TWO MONTHS THE SUN-TIMES HAD ENOUGH MATERIAL FOR A 25-PART SERIES AND THE MIRAGE VANISHED.

AFTER ALL THE BAD PRESS, DOZENS OF INSPECTORS WERE FIRED AND SEPARATE GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS LED TO NUMEROUS OF CONVICTIONS.

THIS STRETCH OF SOUTH HALSTED STREET IS A LIGHT INDUSTRIAL AREA TODAY.

BUT IN 1964 THE BEATLES MADE THEIR CHICAGO DEBUT RIGHT OVER THERE!

IT WAS SEPTEMBER 5, 1964 AND THIS WAS THE OLD INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE.

THE VAST ARENA HOSTED MANY GREAT CONCERTS OVER THE YEARS, FROM FRANK SINATRA AND ELVIS TO THE ROLLING STONES, MICHAEL JACKSON AND LED ZEPPELIN.

BUT IT WASN'T BUILT AS A MUSIC VENUE.

IT WAS BUILT IN 1934 FOR LIVESTOCK SHOWS.

THE INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE WAS ON THE EDGE OF THE SPRAWLING UNION STOCKYARDS.

YOU ONLY NEEDED YOUR NOSE TO TELL YOU THAT.

THIS WAS WHERE MEGA-MEATPACKERS LIKE PHILIP D. ARMOUR AND GUSTAVUS SWIFT MADE CHICAGO "HOG BUTCHER FOR THE WORLD" AS CARL SANDBURG WROTE.

AN ENORMOUS FIRE DESTROYED MUCH OF THE STOCKYARDS IN 1934 INCLUDING THE OLD HORSE AUCTION BARN.

TO REPLACE THE BARN, THE STOCKYARDS COMPANY BUILT THE INTERNATIONAL AMPHITHEATRE.

FROM THE BEGINNING IT DOUBLED AS THE CITY'S PREMIER CONVENTION AND EXPOSITION HALL.

THERE WERE FLOWER SHOWS, ICE SHOWS, CIRCUSES, SPORTING EVENTS, THE ANNUAL AUTO SHOW, WHICH THE AMPHITHEATRE STOLE FROM THE COLISEUM THE YEAR IT OPENED AND FIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS INCLUDING THE RAUCOUS 1968 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

(ABRAHAM RIBICOFF) HOW HARD IT IS TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH.

(BAER) RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THE AMPHITHEATRE WERE THE FAMOUS STOCK YARD INN, WHERE STEAKS THERE WERE BRANDED WITH THE PATRON'S INITIALS, THE EXCLUSIVE AND PRIVATE "SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB" WAS THERE TOO.

IT WOULD BE HARD TO IMAGINE A PLACE WHERE RED MEAT WAS FRESHER.

THE STOCKYARDS CLOSED IN 1971.

THE AMPHITHEATRE STRUGGLED AS CONVENTION BUSINESS STARTED MOVING TO MCCORMICK PLACE AND SUBURBAN CENTERS.

IT WAS FINALLY TORN DOWN IN 1999.

THE ONLY PHYSICAL REMINDER OF THE OLD STOCKYARDS IS THIS LIMESTONE GATE AND THE NOW-VACANT STOCKYARDS BANK, WHICH SURVIVED THE 1934 FIRE.

YES...

IT'S ALMOST AN EXACT REPLICA OF INDEPENDENCE HALL IN PHILADELPHIA.

THE OLD STOCKYARDS PROPERTY IS NOW A MANUFACTURING DISTRICT.

THIS IS WOLF POINT WHERE THE THREE BRANCHES OF THE CHICAGO RIVER COME TOGETHER ACROSS FROM THE MERCHANDISE MART.

TODAY, THE BANKS OF THE RIVER HERE ARE LINED WITH SKYSCRAPERS.

NOW, BACK IN 1860, THE BUILDING THAT STOOD RIGHT OVER THERE WASN'T MUCH TO SPEAK OF.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE, CHANGED AMERICA.

IN THAT BUILDING, ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT AT THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION.

THE BUILDING WAS CALLED THE WIGWAM, WHICH WAS SORT OF A GENERIC NAME FOR HASTILY BUILT EXHIBITION HALLS IN THOSE DAYS.

THE CONVENTION WAS A RAUCOUS AFFAIR.

AND LINCOLN WAS CONSIDERED A LONG SHOT.

BUT LINCOLN'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER CAME UP WITH A CLEVER TACTIC.

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE CRUCIAL VOTE, HE HAD COUNTERFEIT ADMISSION TICKETS PRINTED UP AND ISSUED THEM TO A THRONG OF PARTISANS HAND-PICKED FOR THEIR LOUD VOICES.

THEY PACKED THE HALL, LEAVING LITTLE ROOM FOR THE OPPOSITION.

AND SURE ENOUGH, ON THE THIRD BALLOT, LINCOLN WON.

THE WIGWAM WASN'T THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT BUILDING TO STAND RIGHT OVER THERE.

IF WE PEER BACK TO 1831 UP POPS THE SAUGANASH HOTEL.

IT WAS A BASICALLY A TWO STORY ADDITION TO A LOG CABIN.

THE PROPRIETOR MARK BEAUBIEN WAS A FUN-LOVING FIDDLE PLAYER AND FRONTIER ENTREPRENEUR WITH 23 CHILDREN FROM TWO MARRIAGES.

THE SAUGANASH ALSO SERVED AS A MAKESHIFT CITY HALL, A THEATRE, SCHOOLHOUSE AND CATHOLIC CHURCH.

IT WAS ONE OF THREE TAVERNS ON THE RIVERBANKS HERE, MAKING WOLF POINT THE SOCIAL CENTER OF FRONTIER CHICAGO WITH ITS ROWDY MIX OF NATIVE AMERICANS, FRENCH CANADIANS AND NEW ENGLANDERS.

WOLF POINT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT CHICAGO'S OFFICIAL LOGO, ADOPTED IN 1916, IS A "Y" SHAPE REPRESENTING THE CONFLUENCE OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF THE RIVER.

YOU SPOT IT HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT ALL OVER TOWN.

WE'RE POINTING OUR TIME MACHINE ACROSS THE RIVER NOW, FROM THE SITE OF THE OLD SAUGANASH HOTEL, TO DISCOVER A LOST LITTLE WATERWAY.

THERE WAS ONCE A SMALL TRIBUTARY TO THE CHICAGO RIVER HERE.

YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE IT ON EARLY PLAT MAPS.

IT DISAPPEARED AFTER 1848, POSSIBLY DRAINED OR FILLED IN FOR THE RAILROAD THAT WOULD SOON BE EXTENDED HERE.

GOING BACK EVEN FURTHER IN TIME WE FIND WHAT WAS POSSIBLY CHICAGO'S EARLIEST PERMANENT BUILDING.

IT WAS THE GUARDIAN ANGEL MISSION ESTABLISHED BY FATHER PIERRE-FRANCOIS PINET IN 1696.

WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHERE IT STOOD, BUT MANY HISTORIANS BELIEVE IT WAS ON THE MAIN BRANCH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER NEAR WHAT IS NOW THE MERCHANDISE MART.

PINET SPENT SUMMERS AT THE MISSION WORKING TO CONVERT LOCAL MIAMI INDIANS AND MINISTERING TO VISITING FUR TRADERS.

FATHER PINET IS BELIEVED TO HAVE AUTHORED THE FIRST KNOWN BOOK WRITTEN IN CHICAGO.

IT WAS A DICTIONARY ABOUT 600 PAGES LONG THAT TRANSLATED THE MIAMI INDIAN LANGUAGE INTO FRENCH.

IT WAS RE-DISCOVERED IN A JESUIT ARCHIVE IN QUEBEC IN 1999.

THIS SWANKY CAR DEALERSHIP ON CHICAGO'S NORTH SIDE IS A PLACE YOU MIGHT COME IF YOU WANTED TO BUY A REALLY EXPENSIVE AUTOMOBILE.

BUT, IF WE DIAL OUR TIME MACHINE BACK TO THE YEAR 1987, WE SEE THAT THERE WAS ONCE A DINER HERE WHERE ONE OF THE GREAT BACKROOM DEALS IN CHICAGO POLITICS HAPPENED.

OR MAYBE I SHOULD CALL IT A "BACK SEAT DEAL" BECAUSE IT TOOK PLACE IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE TOWN AND COUNTRY RESTAURANT IN THE WEE HOURS OF NOVEMBER 30TH 1987.

JUST FIVE DAYS EARLIER, HAROLD WASHINGTON, CHICAGO'S FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN MAYOR HAD DIED SUDDENLY OF A MASSIVE HEART.

(ALTON MILLER) I'M ALTON MILLER, THE MAYOR'S PRESS SECRETARY, AND IT'S MY SAD RESPONSIBILITY TO LET YOU KNOW THAT MAYOR WASHINGTON WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD THIS AFTERNOON AT 1:36.

(BAER) AMID THE SHOCK AND GRIEF, THE CITY COUNCIL HAD TO PICK A SUCCESSOR.

AFTER FIVE DAYS OF FURIOUS CLOSED-DOOR DEALING, REPRESENTATIVES OF WHITE AND BLACK VOTING BLOCS AGREED TO MEET AT THE TOWN AND COUNTRY TO SETTLE THE MATTER.

BUT WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN THE COLD RAIN SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT, THEY FOUND THE RESTAURANT CLOSED.

SO THEY CLIMBED INTO THE BACK SEAT OF STATE REPRESENTATIVE ALFRED RONAN'S LINCOLN CONTINENTAL.

WHEN THEY EMERGED THEY HAD ANOINTED EUGENE SAWYER AS THE NEW MAYOR.

(SPEAKER) WE GOT A NEW MAYOR!

WE GOT A NEW MAYOR!

(BAER) AS THE KENNEDY EXPRESSWAY PASSES THIS CAR DEALERSHIP, IT SWERVES RATHER DRAMATICALLY TO THE EAST.

NOW, ANOTHER CHICAGO POLL WAS FAMOUSLY -- BUT INCORRECTLY -- GIVEN CREDIT FOR THAT MANEUVER.

THE PATH OF THE KENNEDY WAS DIVERTED TO SAVE THE CITY'S MOST FAMOUS POLISH CHURCH, ST. STANISLAUS KOSTKA.

IT WAS AMONG THOUSANDS OF BUILDINGS SLATED FOR DEMOLITION TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE HIGHWAY.

CHICAGO'S LARGE POLISH POPULATION APPEALED TO THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO PUT THE HIGHWAY SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND THEY WON!

AS YEARS PASSED, THE KENNEDY DIVERSION BECAME KNOWN AS THE ROSTENKOWSKI CURVE BECAUSE PEOPLE BELIEVED THE LARGER-THAN-LIFE POLISH-AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN DAN ROSTENKOWSKI HAD PULLED STRINGS TO SAVE THE CHURCH.

IN REALITY IT WAS CIVIL ENGINEER TURNED POLITICIAN, BERNARD PRUSINSKI WHO COOKED UP THE PLAN TO SHIFT THE EXPRESSWAY TO THE EAST.

ANOTHER CHICAGO BUILDING WASN'T SO LUCKY.

TO BUILD THAT EXPRESSWAY, THE HOME OF LEGENDARY CHICAGO WRITER NELSON ALGREN WAS DEMOLISHED.

IT WAS A RAMSHACKLE TWO-ROOM APARTMENT THAT DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A TUB OR SHOWER IN A NONDESCRIPT BUILDING AT 1523 WEST WAUBANSIA.

THIS IS WHERE ALGREN WROTE ABOUT A SIDE OF LIFE EVEN SEEDIER THAN HIS OWN LIVING QUARTERS.

THIS IS ALSO WHERE ALGREN CARRIED ON A TORRID AND TORTURED AFFAIR WITH FRENCH WRITER AND FEMINIST SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR.

ALGREN CALLED HER "FRENCHY."

HIS GOOD FRIEND PHOTOGRAPHER ART SHAY FAMOUSLY CAPTURED HER IN AN UNGUARDED MOMENT DURING ONE OF HER VISITS TO ALGREN.

WE ALL KNOW WACKER DRIVE IS A BROAD, ELEGANT STREET LINING THE RIVER.

IT COULDN'T BE MORE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT USED TO BE HERE.

UNTIL 1925 THIS WAS SOUTH WATER STREET, THE CITY'S WHOLESALE FOOD MARKET.

"PICTURESQUE PANDEMONIUM" IS HOW ONE OBSERVER DESCRIBED IT IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

THE BUILDINGS BACKED RIGHT UP TO THE BUSTLING RIVER, WHICH WAS THE FOCUS OF CHICAGO'S COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY SINCE ITS EARLIEST DAYS.

AS CHICAGO'S LOOP COMMERCIAL DISTRICT GREW AFTER THE GREAT FIRE, NEIGHBORS IN NEW OFFICE TOWERS STARTED COMPLAINING ABOUT THE OLD MARKET WITH ITS CLUTTER AND CROWDS AND SMELLS.

ARCHITECT DANIEL BURNHAM DEVISED A SOLUTION AS PART OF HIS SWEEPING 1909 PLAN OF CHICAGO.

BEGINNING IN 1925, MOST OF WATER STREET AND THE BUILDINGS ALONG THE RIVER WERE WIPED OFF THE MAP.

IN THEIR PLACE THE CITY BUILT GRAND, NEO-CLASSICAL WACKER DRIVE WITH UNOBSTRUCTED RIVER VIEWS AND A LOWER LEVEL FOR NOISY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC.

IT'S NAMED FOR CHARLES WACKER, THE BURNHAM PLAN'S CHIEF PROMOTER.

THE WHOLESALE MARKET WAS MOVED TO AN AREA AROUND 15TH STREET SOUTH OF THE OLD MAXWELL STREET MARKET AND LITTLE ITALY.

EVENTUALLY GENTRIFICATION CAME TO THAT AREA.

BUT THIS TIME THE BUILDINGS WERE SAVED AND CONVERTED TO CONDOS.

AND AS FOR WACKER DRIVE WELL IT REMAINS CHICAGO'S OWN LITTLE BIT OF PARIS ON THE PRAIRIE.

IT'S BEEN SO GREAT EXPLORING CHICAGO WITH THIS TIME MACHINE BUT I'VE GOT TO GO.

I PROMISED TO PICK UP SOME APPLES ON THE WAY HOME.

AND WELL...I'M RIGHT HERE.

I'LL TAKE A DOZEN PLEASE.

AND I'LL SEE YOU IN THE FUTURE.