THIS IS THE LANDMARK FIELDHOUSE IN CALUMET PARK.

IT'S ON THE LAKEFRONT NEAR THE ILLINOIS-INDIANA BORDER.

WE'RE DOWN IN THE BASEMENT OF THE FIELDHOUSE.

YOU WON'T FIND THE GYMNASIUM OR THE CRAFT ROOMS OR THE FITNESS CENTER DOWN HERE.

BUT THERE'S SOMETHING YOU WON'T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE... TAKE A LOOK AT THIS...

THIS IS THE ONLY PARK DISTRICT BUILDING WITH A MOUNTAIN RANGE, A SMALL CITY AND DOZENS OF TRAINS IN THE BASEMENT.

THIS METICULOUSLY DETAILED MODEL RAILROAD HAS BEEN A WORK IN PROGRESS FOR MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS.

IT BELONGS TO THE LAKE SHORE MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION.

THE CLUB WAS FORMED WAY BACK IN 1946 BY TWELVE RETURNING WWII VETERANS.

THIS AMAZING MODEL RAILROAD IS JUST ONE OF MANY THINGS WE HADN'T FOUND YET WHEN WE MADE OUR FIRST HIDDEN CHICAGO SPECIAL IN 2007.

IN THIS PROGRAM WE'LL SHOW YOU SOME OF OUR NEWEST DISCOVERIES LIKE AMERICA'S FIRST MOVIE PALACE, IT'S NOW A WEST SIDE CHURCH.

AND THIS STORAGE WAREHOUSE IN LINCOLN PARK INSCRIBED WITH ACTUAL EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS.

WE'LL VISIT AN ENCLAVE OF BEAUTIFUL PRAIRIE STYLE HOMES ON THE SOUTH SIDE AND OTHER HIDDEN NEIGHBORHOODS.

AND DISCOVER CHICAGO UTOPIAS, INCLUDING GEORGE PULLMAN'S PARADISE LOST AND A NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY WHERE POLICE CARRIED BIBLES IN THEIR HOLSTERS INSTEAD OF GUNS.

DID YOU KNOW THE OSCAR STATUETTE IS MADE IN CHICAGO?

AND THE FIREPOLE WAS INVENTED HERE?

YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT ALL KINDS OF AMERICAN ICONS THAT COME FROM CHICAGO.

WE'LL SEARCH OUT CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT TREASURES AND GO SUBTERRANEAN TO SEE CHICAGO'S EERIE, ABANDONED FREIGHT TUNNELS, THE PUMPS UNDER BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN AND BEDROCK IN DEEP TUNNEL 30 STORIES UNDERGROUND!

I'M GEOFFREY BAER JOIN ME FOR ANOTHER EDITION OF HIDDEN CHICAGO.

GENEROUS SUPPORT IS ALSO PROVIDED BY THE JOSEPH & BESSIE FEINBERG FOUNDATION; THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION, IN MEMORY OF ALYCE DECOSTA; WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM THE HARRIET K. BURNSTEIN & GAND FAMILY; KEN NORGAN; JUDY AND JOHN MCCARTER; PETER KELLIHER JR. AND DIANE KELLIHER AND THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.

>> BRUNO AND TIM'S LOUNGE IN ROGERS PARK IS NOWHERE NEAR DOWNTOWN CHICAGO, BUT IT HAS A GREAT VIEW OF THE SKYLINE.

THIS PANORAMA OF CHICAGO CIRCA 1922 IS SORT OF A "THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS" EXPERIENCE.

BECAUSE THE COMPANY THAT MADE THESE ORNAMENTAL PANELS, THE NORTHWESTERN TERRA COTTA COMPANY, ALSO WORKED ON MANY OF THE ACTUAL BUILDINGS DEPICTED IN THEM.

LIKE THIS ONE...

THIS LOOKS LIKE A MARBLE COVERED PALACE.

IT'S THE RAILWAY EXCHANGE BUILDING, ALSO CALLED THE SANTA FE BUILDING BY THE FAMOUS CHICAGO ARCHITECT DANIEL BURNHAM.

BUT ACTUALLY, NONE OF THIS FANCY MATERIAL IS MARBLE.

IT'S SOMETHING ELSE, A STATE OF THE ART BUILDING MATERIAL FROM THE LATE 1800S CALLED TERRA COTTA.

TERRA COTTA IS MOLDED CLAY BAKED AT HIGH TEMPERATURES AND OFTEN FINISHED IN COLORED GLAZE.

WHEN IT CAME ON THE SCENE IN THE LATE 1800S IT MADE FANCY BUILDING DECORATION MORE AFFORDABLE AND TRANSFORMED THE CITYSCAPE.

YOU SEE THE RESULTS ALL OVER CHICAGO.

CAR REPAIR SHOPS AND SMALL STOREFRONTS ARE DECORATED IN BEAUTIFUL AND FANCIFUL ORNAMENT THAT WAS ONCE RESERVED ONLY FOR RICH BUILDING OWNERS WHO COULD AFFORD TO HIRE SKILLED STONE CARVERS.

THIS BUILDING IN HYDE PARK WAS ORIGINALLY THE RITZ GARAGE BUILT IN 1929.

THE OWNERS WENT OVERBOARD GLORIFYING THE AUTOMOBILE IN THE BUILDING'S ORNAMENT.

THE AIA GUIDE TO CHICAGO CALLS IT A PAEAN TO THE GLAMOUR OF THE ROADSTER.

AFFORDABLE TERRA COTTA GAVE A CHINESE GROUP CALLED THE ON LEONG TONG A CHANCE TO CREATE AN EXUBERANT EXPRESSION OF CHINESE CULTURE FOR THEIR MERCHANT'S ASSOCIATION BUILDING NOW CALLED PUI TAK CENTER IN CHINATOWN.

THE ARCHITECTS WERE SCANDINAVIAN AMERICANS.

APPARENTLY THERE WERE NO ARCHITECTS OF CHINESE ANCESTRY LICENSED IN ILLINOIS WHEN THE BUILDING WAS COMMISSIONED IN 1928.

IN THE GREAT TRADITION OF ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT TERRA COTTA GIVES ARCHITECTS A CHANCE TO EXPRESS A LITTLE SENSE OF HUMOR.

FOR EXAMPLE ARCHITECT WILLIAM LE BARON JENNEY EXPECTED A LOT OF GAWKERS WHEN HE BUILT THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING IN 1891, THE 16-STORY MANHATTAN BUILDING ON DEARBORN STREET SO WHEN PEOPLE LOOKED UP AT THE BUILDING, THESE GHOULISH FACES LOOKED BACK DOWN AT THEM.

TERRA COTTA IS ALSO FIREPROOF, WHICH MADE IT ESPECIALLY POPULAR AFTER THE GREAT FIRE OF 1871.

>> CHICAGO BECAME AN INCREDIBLE CENTER OF TERRA COTTA PRODUCTION IN THE 1870S.

WE HAVE NATURAL CLAY DEPOSITS IN THE GROUND.

ANYONE WHO HAS A GARDEN IN CHICAGO KNOWS THAT YOU DIG DOWN YOU HIT CLAY.

WE'RE ALSO GEOGRAPHICALLY IMPORTANT, AS FAR AS WHERE WE ARE LOCATED IN THE COUNTRY TO SHIP TO RAIL AND WATER CONNECTIONS ETC.

AND THERE WERE FOUR MAJOR COMPANIES IN CHICAGO.

THOSE FOUR COMPANIES PROVIDED TERRA COTTA FOR BUILDINGS IN THE LOOP AND THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

>> (BAER) NORTHWESTERN TERRA COTTA COMPANY REALLY GOT A CHANCE TO STRUT ITS STUFF ON THE LARAMIE STATE BANK BUILT IN 1928 IN THE SOUTH AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD ON CHICAGO'S WEST SIDE.

THE BUILDING IS ENCRUSTED WITH SYMBOLS OF HARD WORK, WEALTH AND THRIFT, INCLUDING COINS, SQUIRRELS AND BUSY BEES.

OF COURSE ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT CAN ALSO BE USED AS AN EGO TRIP.

THESE AREN'T JUST ANY FACES HIDDEN IN THE TERRA COTTA AND STONE ORNAMENT ON TREE STUDIOS.

THEY'RE THE LIKENESSES OF JUDGE LAMBERT TREE AND HIS WIFE ANNA.

LAMBERT TREE WAS A CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, DIPLOMAT AND PATRON OF THE ARTS.

HE COMMISSIONED THIS STUDIO BUILDING ON STATE STREET BETWEEN OHIO AND ONTARIO IN 1894 AND OFFERED CHEAP RENTS TO ENTICE ARTISTS TO LIVE AND WORK IN CHICAGO.

EVEN THE CHIMNEY SENDS A MESSAGE.

THE BROTHERS WHO OWNED REEBIE STORAGE ON CLARK STREET IN LINCOLN PARK HAD THEIR OWN FACES SUPERIMPOSED ON THESE TWO STATUES OF THE EGYPTIAN GOD RAMSES II.

IT WAS PART OF THE BUILDINGS OVERALL EGYPTIAN MOTIF, DESIGNED TO CAPITALIZE ON THE EGYPTOMANIA CRAZE THAT SWEPT THE COUNTRY AFTER KING TUT'S TOMB WAS UNEARTHED IN 1922.

>> THEY EVEN HAD A SLOGAN RIGHT?

>> THEY DO, THEIR FAMOUS SLOGAN "IF OLD KING TUT "WERE ALIVE TODAY, "HE'D STORE HIS GOODS THE REEBIE WAY."

>> (BAER) THERE ARE ACTUAL MESSAGES IN THE HIEROGLYPHICS ACCORDING TO THE AIA GUIDE TO CHICAGO.

THE LEFT ONE SAYS "FOREVER I "WORK FOR ALL OF YOUR REGIONS IN DAYLIGHT AND DARKNESS."

THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS A LITTLE MORE PROSAIC.

IT READS, "I GIVE PROTECTION TO YOUR FURNITURE."

ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO RUSHED TO EXPLORE KING TUT'S TOMB WAS THE FAMED EGYPTOLOGIST JAMES HENRY BREASTED, FOUNDER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO'S ORIENTAL INSTITUTE.

BREASTED PERSONALLY SUPERVISED THE DESIGN OF THIS ORNAMENTAL PANEL CALLED A TYMPANUM ABOVE THE ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING, WHICH OPENED IN 1931.

IT SHOWS AN EGYPTIAN SCRIBE PASSING EASTERN KNOWLEDGE TO WESTERN MAN.

THIS PIECE IS NOT TERRA COTTA.

IT'S CARVED FROM STONE.

THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER EXAMPLES OF STONE ORNAMENT IN CHICAGO.

LIKE THESE ASTONISHING EGYPTIAN FRIEZES ON THE HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL ON NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE.

RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET ON THE MCGRAW-HILL BUILDING FROM 1929 IS A VERITABLE GALLERY OF CARVED STONE WORKS BY SCULPTOR GWEN LUX.

ON THE SOARING CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING AT LASALLE AND JACKSON A TRADER AND NATIVE AMERICAN EXCHANGE GOODS.

JUST UP LASALLE STREET IS A MAGNIFICENT MOORISH STYLE BUILDING THAT EVERYONE CALLED THE ROOKERY BECAUSE IT WAS BUILT ON A SITE WHERE BIRDS USED TO FLOCK.

ARCHITECTS DANIEL BURNHAM AND JOHN WELLBORN ROOT PUT THESE ORNAMENTAL CROWS OR ROOKS IN THE ENTRANCE ARCH AS A NOD TO THE NICKNAME.

EVEN PUBLIC UTILITIES GOT INTO THE ACT.

THIS ART DECO STYLE COMED SUBSTATION ON DEARBORN STREET WAS DESIGNED BY ARCHITECTS HOLABIRD AND ROOT IN 1931.

THE AGE OF ORNAMENT ENDED WITH THE ONSET OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION AS NEW BUILDING CONSTRUCTION GROUND TO A HALT.

>> AND BY THE TIME WE START TO BUILD BUILDINGS AGAIN IN THE 1950S OR THE MID '50S THEN OUR STYLES HAVE CHANGED.

OUR TASTES HAVE CHANGED.

MODERNISM HAS COME FROM EUROPE AND THAT'S A STRIPPING AWAY OF ALL THAT EXTRA ORNAMENTATION.

>> (BAER) TODAY YOU CAN READ THE HISTORY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD IN ITS HISTORIC ORNAMENT.

FOR EXAMPLE PARTS OF UPTOWN ON CHICAGO'S NORTH SIDE LOOK PRETTY RUN DOWN.

BUT THE PROFUSION OF TERRA COTTA ORNAMENT HERE REMINDS US THAT THIS WAS ONCE A VIBRANT SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT.

YOU'LL ALSO FIND AN AMAZING NUMBER OF TERRA COTTA ENCRUSTED BUILDINGS IN THE FAR NORTHERN SUBURBS OF CRYSTAL LAKE.

THAT'S BECAUSE THIS SMALL TOWN WAS THE HOME OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST TERRA COTTA MANUFACTURERS, AMERICAN TERRA COTTA.

THESE DAYS IT'S RARE INDEED TO SEE MUCH ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT ON A NEW BUILDING.

ONE NOTABLE EXCEPTION IS THE HAROLD WASHINGTON LIBRARY FROM 1991.

>> ARCHITECTS HAMMOND BEEBY BABKA ARE LOOKING AT HISTORIC SKYSCRAPERS, HISTORIC STRUCTURES IN CHICAGO, AND CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE AND BORROWING BITS AND PIECES FROM IT.

(BAER) BORROWING, THAT IS, IN A PLAYFUL POST MODERN WAY.

THERE'S THE PUFFY-CHEEKED WINDY CITY MAN BLOWING AIR, GARLANDS OF MIDWESTERN CORN AND A FIGURE WITH A CORN NECKLACE.

THE MOST DRAMATIC FIGURES ARE THESE OWLS HOLDING BOOKS AND SCROLLS IN THEIR TALONS.

IT'S ALMOST LIKE THE DESIGNERS BELIEVED THEY WERE GIVING ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT ONE LAST HURRAH, AND SO THEY DECIDED TO MAKE IT BOTH LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY OVER THE TOP.

TAKE A LOOK AT ZION, ILLINOIS FROM THE HEAVENS ABOVE, AND YOU MIGHT NOTICE IT WAS LAID OUT IN THE SHAPE OF THE BRITISH FLAG....

THE STREET NAMES ARE DRAWN FROM THE BIBLE... AND ALL ROADS LEAD TO A CHURCH AT THE CENTER OF TOWN.

THESE ARE THE LASTING LEGACIES OF ZION'S FOUNDER, A BRITISH-BORN FAITH-HEALER NAMED JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE.

DOWIE ATTRACTED A FOLLOWING IN CHICAGO AT THE 1893 WORLD'S FAIR, WHERE HE CLAIMED TO CURE EVERYTHING FROM CONVULSIONS TO CROSSED EYES.

HE PREACHED THAT THESE AILMENTS WERE THE WORK OF SATAN.

AND DOWIE PROMISED TO LEAD HIS FOLLOWERS AWAY FROM EVIL ONCE AND FOR ALL, BY BUILDING THEM A "HEAVEN ON EARTH".

HE BOUGHT A PATCH OF BARREN LAND NORTH OF CHICAGO IN 1899, AND TRANSFORMED IT INTO A 10 SQUARE MILE PARADISE, WHERE MEMBERS OF HIS CHRISTIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH COULD LIVE LIFE AS GOD INTENDED.

BILLBOARDS REMINDED ZION RESIDENTS OF THE STRICT MORAL CODE: >> LADIES HAD TO WEAR SKIRTS.

THERE WAS NO SPITTING ON THE SIDEWALKS.

THERE WAS NO ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.

ONE OF THE LAWS WAS THAT YOU COULD NOT GIVE TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO A DOMESTICATED ANIMAL.

>> (BAER) THESE LAWS WERE ENFORCED BY THE "ZION GUARD", WHOSE HOLSTERS CONTAINED NOT GUNS, BUT BIBLES.

ANY CONTRABAND THEY SEIZED WAS DISPLAYED IN DOWIE'S CHURCH ON A WALL OF SHAME.

THESE TROPHIES INCLUDED NOT JUST WHISKEY AND WINE, BUT CRUTCHES AND CANES.

BECAUSE EVEN MEDICAL CARE WAS FORBIDDEN.

>> THEY BELIEVED VERY STRONGLY IN DIVINE HEALING.

>> (BAER) THE CURRENT MAYOR'S GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE AMONG THE FIRST RESIDENTS OF ZION.

THEY WERE ATTRACTED NOT ONLY BY DOWIE'S RELIGIOUS ZEAL, BUT BY HIS PLEAS FOR RACIAL HARMONY.

>> THEY WERE IMPRESSED BY THE WHOLE RELIGIOUS NATURE OF WHAT DOWIE WAS TALKING ABOUT AND DEVELOPING A UTOPIAN COMMUNITY.

>> (BAER) DOWIE'S CHURCH OWNED ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN ZION, INCLUDING TWO DOZEN FACTORIES AND STORES WHERE THE TOWNSPEOPLE WORKED.

IN EXCHANGE, THEY GOT AN 1,100 YEAR LEASE ON THEIR PROPERTY--LONG ENOUGH TO ENSURE THE SECOND-COMING.

DOWIE, MEANWHILE, LIVED IN THIS MANSION AT THE CENTER OF TOWN, FILLED WITH THE FINEST FURNISHINGS MONEY COULD BUY.

IN THE END, ZION'S CHURCH-CONTROLLED ECONOMY WAS A FAILURE.

WITHIN JUST A FEW YEARS OF ITS FOUNDING, THE TOWN WENT BANKRUPT.

WITH CREDITORS BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK, DOWIE SKIPPED TOWN TO AUSTRALIA.

OTHER MINISTERS TRIED TO MAINTAIN THE CHURCH'S HOLD OVER ZION, BUT TO NO AVAIL.

AT THE SAME TIME DOWIE WAS ESTABLISHING LAW AND ORDER IN ZION, IN THE NEARBY CHAIN O' LAKES ANOTHER UTOPIAN COMMUNITY WAS THROWING ALL OF THE RULES OUT THE WINDOW.

THE SPIRIT FRUIT SOCIETY EMBRACED FREE LOVE AND HOMOSEXUALITY.

ITS PROPHET, JACOB BEILHART, PREACHED THAT HUMANKIND COULD NEVER REALIZE ITS SPIRITUAL POTENTIAL, UNTIL WE ABANDONED SELFISHNESS AND COMPETITION FOR LOVE AND GENDER EQUALITY.

NOW THAT MESSAGE MIGHT HAVE GONE OVER WELL IN THE 1960'S, BUT THIS WAS 1905, AND THE SOCIETY WAS PRACTICALLY CHASED OUT OF OHIO AND CHICAGO, BEFORE SETTLING ON A 300 ACRE FARM IN INGLESIDE.

THEY LIVED COMMUNALLY ON A SECLUDED LAKE, UNTIL THEIR PROPHET'S DEATH IN 1908.

THIS INTERSECTION ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE WAS ONCE THE EDEN OF AN UNUSUAL 19TH CENTURY CULT KNOWN AS THE KORESHANS.

THEIR LEADER, A MEDICAL DOCTOR NAMED CYRUS TEED, HAD A BIZARRE THEORY OF ASTRONOMY.

HE BELIEVED THE EARTH WAS HOLLOW AND THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS LIVED ON THE INSIDE SURFACE.

HE ALSO CLAIMED TO BE THE MESSIAH.

AND IN 1892 TEED CONVINCED MORE THAN 100 FOLLOWERS, MOST OF THEM WOMEN, TO HAND OVER THEIR POSSESSIONS, AND MOVE TO A PEACEFUL COMMUNE CALLED BETH OPHRA.

THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO REMAIN CELIBATE.

BUT TEED HIMSELF ALLEGEDLY HAD SOME TROUBLE WITH THAT VOW.

THE CHICAGO NEWSPAPERS WERE FILLED WITH ACCOUNTS OF THE PROPHET SEDUCING HIS FLOCK.

HE WAS SUED BY JEALOUS HUSBANDS, AND A BOMB WAS EVEN PLACED ON HIS DOORSTEP, BEFORE HE FLED TO FLORIDA.

I DON'T KNOW ANOTHER PLACE IN THE WHOLE CITY OF CHICAGO LIKE THIS.

THIS NEXT UTOPIA HAS BEEN DEFUNCT FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, BUT YOU'D HARDLY KNOW IT.

YOU CAN STILL VISIT THE ORIGINAL HOUSING, AND HOTEL, REMNANTS OF THE FACTORY AND MARKET, THE CHURCH AND PARKS, MANY OF THEM STANDING REMARKABLY INTACT ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE, A LIVING REMINDER OF GEORGE PULLMAN'S COMPANY TOWN.

>> IT WAS A MODEL INDUSTRIAL TOWN.

>> (BAER) GEORGE PULLMAN BUILT THIS TOWN FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF HIS PULLMAN PALACE CAR COMPANY.

HE TRANSFORMED LONG-DISTANCE TRAIN TRAVEL BY BUILDING LUXURY TRAIN CARS THAT PAMPERED PASSENGERS WITH PLUSH UPHOLSTERY, ELECTRIC LIGHTING, AND STATE-OF-THE-ART HEATING AND VENTILATION.

>> THIS WAS SOPHISTICATED STUFF.

THE PALACE CARS WERE LIKE DESIGNING CORPORATE JETS TODAY.

PEOPLE WANTED THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, AND THEY WANTED THE MOST STYLE.

>> (BAER) TO BUILD THESE HIGH-TECH CARS, PULLMAN HAD TO ATTRACT THE MOST TALENTED ARTISANS AND ENGINEERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

SO IN 1880 HE BUILT A MODEL TOWN SOUTH OF CHICAGO THAT WAS AS INNOVATIVE AND ATTRACTIVE AS HIS RAIL CARS.

>> IT WAS WELL-LANDSCAPED, EVERYTHING WAS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE.

THEY COLLECTED THE GARBAGE, THERE WERE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

>> (BAER) THIS WAS ENVISIONED AS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE CROWDED SLUMS WHERE MOST AMERICAN WORKERS LIVED.

PULLMAN'S SOLID BRICK HOMES FEATURED GAS AND INDOOR PLUMBING.

ARCHITECT SOLON S. BEMAN DESIGNED ENGLISH-STYLE ROW HOUSES FOR THE WORKERS, AND STATELY MANSIONS FOR THE RESIDENTS OF EXECUTIVE ROW.

>> ALRIGHT, THIS WAS A TYPICAL PARLOR IN THE EXECUTIVE ROW.

FRONT PARLOR, MUSIC ROOM TO THE REAR.

THERE WAS A FORMAL DINING ROOM AND A KITCHEN.

ON THE SECOND FLOOR THERE'S A MASTER BEDROOM WITH A FIREPLACE IN IT.

>> (BAER) LIFE IN PULLMAN MAY HAVE SEEMED IDEAL, BUT GEORGE PULLMAN WAS NOT MOTIVATED SOLELY BY IDEALISM.

EVER THE CAPITALIST, HE HOPED HIS MODEL TOWN WOULD INSPIRE WORKERS TO BE SOBER AND LOYAL TO THE COMPANY, AND THAT IT DISSUADE THEM FROM JOINING A UNION.

>> THE IDEA WAS THAT YOU PUT PEOPLE IN A GOOD ENVIRONMENT AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE WORKERS, AND PRODUCE BETTER PRODUCTS.

>> (BAER) GEORGE PULLMAN STOPPED AT NOTHING TO CONTROL THE CHARACTER OF HIS TOWN.

HE SELECTED THE PLAYS THAT RAN IN THE THEATRE, AND THE BOOKS LENT BY THE LIBRARY.

HE CHOSE THE FORM OF WORSHIP AT THE CHURCH, AND THE STORES WHERE RESIDENTS SHOPPED.

THE ONLY PLACE THAT SERVED ALCOHOL WAS THE HOTEL FLORENCE, BUT ONLY TO VISITORS, NOT WORKERS.

AND THE BUSINESSES AND HOMES WERE RENTED OUT, NOT SOLD.

THIS TOWN WAS AN INVESTMENT FOR GEORGE PULLMAN, AND HE EXPECTED A 6 PERCENT RETURN.

>> PULLMAN TOOK STOCKHOLDERS' MONEY, INVESTED IT IN THE TOWN, AND THEY DESIGNED IT AND MANAGED IT TO PRODUCE A PROFIT.

>> (BAER) BUT PULLMAN RAN UP AGAINST SOMETHING HE COULDN'T CONTROL.

THE ECONOMIC DEPRESSION OF 1893.

AS DEMAND FOR HIS RAIL CARS PLUMMETED, HE CUT WORKERS' WAGES BY 30%...WITHOUT REDUCING THEIR RENT.

ON MAY 11TH, 1894, HIS WORKERS WALKED OUT ON STRIKE.

VIOLENCE ERUPTED AND AT LEAST 34 WERE KILLED.

THE STRIKE WAS EVENTUALLY BROKEN, BUT IN THE AFTERMATH THE SUPREME COURT ORDERED THE COMPANY TO SELL OFF THE HOMES AND THE COMPANY TOWN WAS NO MORE.

YOU HAVE LIVING QUARTERS AROUND HERE, AND THEN WHAT IS THIS, A MARKET HALL?

EFFORTS TO RESTORE PARTS OF THE TOWN HAVE STALLED.

BUT GEORGE PULLMAN'S 130 YEAR OLD VISION OF A WALKABLE MIXED INCOME COMMUNITY IS REMARKABLY SIMILAR TO MODERN DAY NOTIONS ABOUT URBAN PLANNING, AND IT STILL FUNCTIONS TODAY.

>> IT SURVIVES, AND IT PROVIDES A VERY DIVERSE COMMUNITY.

IT'S AS DIVERSE AS THE CITY OF CHICAGO.

>> (BAER) RESIDENTS HOPE TO SEE PULLMAN FULLY RESTORED AS A UTOPIA FOR A WHOLE NEW URBAN GENERATION.

GARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY IS ONE OF THE GREAT TREASURES OF THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT.

BUT THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT IT STARTING IN 1906 HAD A REAL CHALLENGE ON THEIR HANDS.

ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THE MASTERMIND BEHIND IT WAS THE DEMANDING DANISH BORN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT JENS JENSEN, FATHER OF THE SO-CALLED PRAIRIE STYLE OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN.

>> THE OUTSIDE OF THE STRUCTURE WAS MEANT TO EMULATE THE SHAPE OF A MIDWESTERN HAYSTACK.

HE DESIGNED THIS TO BE THE LARGEST CONSERVATORY UNDER ONE GLASS STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD.

>> (BAER) IN THE FAMOUS FERN ROOM JENSEN CALLED FOR NATIVE PLANTS TO BE EMBEDDED IN NATURAL-LOOKING LIMESTONE OUTCROPPINGS COMPLETE WITH A WATERFALL.

BUT BUILDING A WATERFALL THAT LOOKED AND SOUNDED NATURAL WAS NO EASY TASK.

IN FACT, JENSEN JUST ABOUT DROVE HIS STONE MASON CRAZY.

EACH DAY WORKERS WOULD STACK UP THE LIMESTONE AND SHOW IT TO JENSEN.

>> AND THEN JENSEN KEPT TELLING HIM "IT'S ALL WRONG, IT'S ALL WRONG.

RIP IT OUT."

THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES AND FINALLY THE MAN JUST THREW UP HIS ARMS AND SAID MR. JENSEN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT.

AND SO JENSEN SAID "DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO?"

AND THE MAN LOOKED AT HIM LIKE HE WAS NUTS AND HE SAID NO, I CAN'T PLAY THE PIANO.

AND THEN THE MAN SAID, WELL, I HAVE A NEIGHBOR NAMED MINNA, SHE CAN PLAY THE PIANO.

AND HE SAID, I WANT YOU TO GO AND HAVE HER PLAY MENDELSSOHN'S SPRING SONG.

AND ACCORDING TO JENSEN, THE GUY HEARD MENDELSSOHN'S SPRING SONG AND CAME RUSHING BACK TO WORK THE NEXT DAY SO THAT HE COULD REBUILD THE WATERFALL SO THAT THE WATER WOULD TINKLE OVER THE STONES THE WAY IT SHOULD IN PRAIRIE COUNTRY.

>>(BAER) JENSEN PASSED HIS LOVE OF MIDWESTERN LIMESTONE TO HIS PROTÉGÉ ALFRED CALDWELL WHO BUILT ARTIFICIAL OUTCROPPINGS AT ANOTHER CHICAGO PARK, THE LOVINGLY RESTORED ALFRED CALDWELL LILY POOL NEAR LINCOLN PARK ZOO.

BUT IF YOU REALLY LOVE THOSE LIMESTONE OUTCROPPINGS, THERE'S NOW A CHICAGO PARK WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE REAL THING... WELL, SORT OF.

IN THE CROWDED HISTORICALLY BLUE COLLAR NEIGHBORHOOD OF BRIDGEPORT ONE OF CHICAGO'S OLDEST LIMESTONE QUARRIES HAS BEEN CONVERTED INTO THE CITY'S NEWEST PARK.

>> IT INCORPORATED MANY ELEMENTS OF THE OLD QUARRY--YOU CAN SEE THE OLD QUARRY WALLS--A LOT OF THE OLD BOULDERS--SOME OF THEM YOU CAN ACTUALLY LOOK AT AND SEE THE FOSSILS.

>> (BAER) AND THAT BIG HILL THAT'S IN THE PARK, THAT'S SOMETHING THEY SORT OF PUSHED ALL THE DEBRIS THERE TO MAKE THE HILL?

>> THERE WAS ALL OF THIS CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS THAT HAD BEEN DUMPED HERE FROM WHEN IT BECAME A LANDFILL AND THINGS WERE MOVED AROUND AND RESCULPTED.

YOU CAN SEE THE SKYLINE AND A LOT OF TRAFFIC AND THE EXPRESSWAYS...

BUT IT'S JUST UNLIKE ANY OTHER PLACE THAT I'VE EVER SEEN.

>> (BAER) STEARNS QUARRY PARK IS JUST ONE OF MANY UNEXPECTED WONDERS IN THE CHICAGO PARK SYSTEM.

AND IF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO SPEND A DAY WITH PARK DISTRICT HISTORIAN JULIA BACHRACH, SHE JUST MIGHT LEAD YOU TO ALL KINDS OF HIDDEN GEMS.

LIKE A GALLERY CRAMMED WITH FINE ART IN THE FIELDHOUSE AT RIDGE PARK IN THE SOUTH SIDE BEVERLY NEIGHBORHOOD.

INCLUDING WORKS BY GRANT WOOD, MARY CASSATT, AND MAXFIELD PARRISH.

IT'S A TRIBUTE TO ARTIST JOHN VANDERPOEL.

HE WAS A BEVERLY RESIDENT WHO TAUGHT AT THE ART INSTITUTE FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS.

>> AND THE PAINTING IT ALL STARTED WITH THIS DOWN HERE... >> (BAER) WHEN VANDERPOEL DIED, HIS SISTER RAISED MONEY TO PURCHASE HIS PAINTING CALLED "THE BUTTERMAKERS" FROM A PRIVATE CLUB AND STARTED SOLICITING OTHER ARTISTS TO DONATE WORKS FOR A GALLERY IN HIS HONOR.

SOON THE COLLECTION WAS BURSTING AT THE SEAMS.

>> AND IT JUST BECAME A TREMENDOUSLY POPULAR THING.

PEOPLE WHO RESPECTED HIM AND CARED ABOUT HIM AND WERE INSPIRED AS STUDENTS DECIDED THEY WANTED TO DONATE PAINTINGS.

>> (BAER) ONE DONOR GAVE A TINY SCULPTURE OF 1933 WORLD'S FAIR SENSATION SALLY RAND, CARVED FROM AN IVORY CUE BALL.

THERE'S ALSO A PAINTING OF ONE OF THE EVERLEIGH SISTERS WHO RAN CHICAGO'S MOST NOTORIOUS BROTHEL.

AT INDIAN BOUNDARY PARK IN THE NORTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD OF ROGERS PARK JULIA BACHRACH SHOWED ME A FIELDHOUSE DECORATED IN NATIVE AMERICAN THEMES.

NOW, THERE'S AN IRONY TO THIS TRIBUTE BECAUSE THIS PARK IS NAMED FOR A BOUNDARY LINE THAT NATIVE AMERICANS WERE FORBIDDEN TO CROSS.

IT SITS RIGHT ON TOP OF THE INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE ESTABLISHED BY TREATY IN 1816 TO KEEP NATIVE AMERICANS MILES AWAY AS WHITE SETTLERS MOVED IN AND BEGAN BUILDING CHICAGO.

THE MOST UNUSUAL THING ABOUT INDIAN BOUNDARY PARK IS THAT IT HAS ITS OWN TINY ZOO.

IT'S A LEFTOVER FROM THE DAYS WHEN CHICAGO'S PARKS WERE RUN BY NEIGHBORHOOD PARK DISTRICTS.

>> ONE OF THE PARK COMMISSIONERS DONATED A BLACK BEAR.

SO THEY NEEDED TO BUILD A WHOLE ZOO FOR THE BEAR!

>> (BAER) SOME LOCAL PARK DISTRICTS BUILT VERY IMPRESSIVE EDIFICES.

HERE IN GARFIELD PARK WHERE WE STARTED OUR TOUR THIS GOLDEN DOMED BUILDING HOUSED THE WEST PARK COMMISSION'S ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES.

THE BEAUTIFUL BAS RELIEF SCULPTURES IN THE LOBBY GLORIFY AMONG OTHER THINGS THE ADVANTAGES OF THE AUTOMOBILE OVER HORSES AND BUGGIES.

RATHER AN ODD TRIBUTE TO PLACE IN A PARK.

AFTER ALL DESIGNERS LIKE JENS JENSEN WANTED THE PARKS TO GIVE CITY DWELLERS A PLACE TO ESCAPE THE NOISY STREETS.

IN HUMBOLDT PARK, JENSEN TRANSPORTED VISITORS BACK IN TIME TO THE DAYS WHEN CHICAGO WAS VIRGIN PRAIRIE.

SO WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?

WHAT IS THIS?

>> THIS IS JENSEN'S PRAIRIE RIVER.

>> THIS IS MAN-MADE.

>> COMPLETELY MAN-MADE.

HE CREATED LANDSCAPE DESIGNS THAT WERE VERY MUCH INSPIRED BY THE NATURAL MIDWESTERN LANDSCAPE.

SO AT THE TIME, MOST PEOPLE REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THE PRAIRIE LANDSCAPE AT ALL.

>> THEY THOUGHT IT WAS LIKE WEEDS.

>> AND VERY FLAT, AND VERY BORING.

HE HAD GREAT REVERENCE FOR IT.

>> (BAER) FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T APPRECIATE HIS PRAIRIE STYLE, JENSEN DID PUT A FORMAL ROSE GARDEN IN HUMBOLDT PARK, BUT HE WASN'T HAPPY ABOUT IT.

>> LATER ON, WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BIT OLDER, HE CALLED IT THE FOLLY OF HIS YOUTH.

>> (BAER) HUMBOLDT PARK'S PRAIRIE STYLE BOAT HOUSE FITS IN WITH THE PRAIRIE STYLE LANDSCAPING OF THE PARK.

JENSEN HIRED HIS FRIENDS, THE ARCHITECTS SCHMIDT, GARDEN AND MARTIN TO DESIGN IT.

SOME OF THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICTS ARCHITECTURAL TREASURES ARE MORE NOTEWORTHY FOR THE GROUNDBREAKING WORK THAT WENT ON INSIDE THEM.

TO BE SURE THIS IS A HANDSOME STRUCTURE.

IT'S IN SHERMAN PARK IN THE SOUTH SIDE ENGLEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD.

AND IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE GREAT CHICAGO ARCHITECT DANIEL BURNHAM.

BUT WHAT'S REALLY SIGNIFICANT IS THE BUILDING'S LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY.

>> THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST FIELD HOUSES EVER BUILT ANYWHERE.

AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY AS MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS WERE SETTLING IN CHICAGO AND THE TENEMENT DISTRICT WAS EMERGING, THERE WAS A THOUGHT THAT THERE REALLY NEEDED TO BE A NEW TYPE OF PARK.

SO THE IDEA WAS THAT YOU'D HAVE A WHOLE NEW TYPE OF BUILDING, VERY MUCH INSPIRED BY THE SETTLEMENT HOUSES, AND HERE YOU HAD CLUB ROOMS, AUDITORIUMS, BRANCH LIBRARIES, CAFETERIAS, INDOOR GYMNASIUMS.

THEY ALSO HAD CLASSES, ENGLISH LESSONS, VOCATIONAL TRAINING.

DOCTORS AND NURSES WOULD COME AND DO IMMUNIZATIONS.

PRESIDENT TEDDY ROOSEVELT CALLED THESE PARKS THE MOST NOTABLE CIVIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ANY AMERICAN CITY.

>> (BAER) EVEN THE MURALS WERE INSTALLED WITH A TEACHING PURPOSE.

>> NOW TODAY WE WOULDN'T INTERPRET HISTORY THE WAY THEY DID IN 1912 WHEN THESE WERE DONE.

>> FOR EXAMPLE... >> FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE MURALS SAYS "THE TREACHERY OF THE INDIANS," IT'S KIND OF WRITTEN ACROSS IT, AND THAT'S THE WAY THE NATIVE AMERICANS THAT LIVED IN THIS AREA BEFORE WERE PORTRAYED.

WE CERTAINLY WOULDN'T WANT TO PORTRAY NATIVE AMERICANS IN THAT WAY TODAY.

>> (BAER) A LESS SERIOUS CONTROVERSY AT SHERMAN PARK CONCERNED THIS LITTLE SCULPTURE OF THE FISHER BOY.

APPARENTLY THE NUNS WORKING IN THE CHURCH ACROSS THE STREET OBJECTED TO THE FULL FRONTAL NUDITY AND THE LITTLE SCULPTURE WAS REMOVED.

THE PARK DISTRICT MAY HAVE LOST THIS WORK, BUT YEAR BY YEAR IT CONTINUES TO GAIN NEW ONES.

LIKE THE STATUES OF THE DOROTHY AND TOTO, AND OTHER WIZARD OF OZ FIGURES IN OZ PARK ON THE NORTH SIDE.

THEY'RE BY CHICAGO ARTIST JOHN KEARNEY.

THE WIZARD OF OZ AUTHOR FRANK BAUM LIVED IN CHICAGO.

CHICAGO ARTIST RICHARD HUNT CREATED THESE ABSTRACT EAGLE COLUMNS FOR JONQUIL PARK ALSO ON THE NORTH SIDE.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS WORK BY SCULPTER GEORGE SEGAL SITTING ALL ALONE IN CHICAGO'S SMALLEST PUBLIC PARK.

IT'S ACTUALLY ON THE CAMPUS OF THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

BUT IIT HAD TO DEED THE LITTLE PATCH OF GROUND UNDER THIS STATUE TO THE PARK DISTRICT.

THAT'S BECAUSE THE FERGUSON FUND WHICH PAID FOR THE SCULPTURE ONLY COMMISSIONS WORKS FOR PUBLIC LAND.

SO LET'S TAKE A WALK FROM ONE END OF THE PARK TO THE OTHER.

THAT IT'S, I'M TIRED.

MIND IF I SIT DOWN?

STILL TO COME ON HIDDEN CHICAGO... A ONE BLOCK STRETCH OF LONDON ROW HOUSES JUST BLOCKS FROM WRIGLEY FIELD.

IT'S PART OF OUR STORY ON HIDDEN NEIGHBORHOODS.

AND WE GO UNDER CHICAGO TO SEE ABANDONED FREIGHT TUNNELS, THE PUMPS UNDER BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN AND DEEP TUNNEL 350 FEET BELOW GROUND!

PLUS THE WORLD'S FIRST MOVIE PALACES.

AND AMERICAN ICONS MADE IN CHICAGO.

DON'T GO AWAY!

JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW THIS CITY, YOU STUMBLE ACROSS A PLACE THAT MAKES YOU SAY...

THIS IS TOTALLY AMAZING!

TAKE THE AUBURN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD.

HIDDEN BEHIND A CTA BUS BARN IN AN IMPOVERISHED AREA OF THE SOUTH SIDE, IT HAS A LAGOON RUNNING RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET.

>> CHICAGO IS ON A GRID, AND IT'S RELENTLESS, UNTIL YOU GET TO THIS SPOT, THE GRID FALLS AWAY, YOU FIND NOT ONLY THESE TWO CURVED STREETS, BUT YOU FIND A LAKE, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.

>> (BAER) WHEN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS STARTED BUILDING AUBURN PARK IN THE 1870'S, THEY FIRST HAD TO DRAIN A VAST MARSH THAT COVERED THIS AREA.

THE LAGOON IS A REMNANT OF THAT MARSH, WHICH THEY PRESERVED TO HELP ATTRACT BUYERS.

AUBURN PARK WAS ORIGINALLY A MIDDLE CLASS COMMUTER SUBURB.

BUT IT FELL ON HARD TIMES BEGINNING IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND THE LAGOON FELL INTO DISREPAIR.

>> AND AS TIME WENT ON AND THE LAGOON WENT INTO DECLINE, THE NEIGHBORHOOD WENT ALONG WITH IT.

THERE WAS A SENSE, THOUGH, THAT IF THE LAGOON COULD BE BROUGHT BACK, THEN GOOD THINGS COULD HAPPEN AROUND IT.

>> (BAER) IN THE 1990'S THE CITY SPENT MILLIONS TO RESTORE THE WATERWAY.

AND SURE ENOUGH, FAMILIES STARTED TO REDISCOVER THIS UNIQUE SOUTH SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SET ON A LAGOON.

>> SO IT REALLY BECOMES A CENTER OF THE COMMUNITY, MUCH IN THE WAY IT WAS ENVISIONED 110-20 YEARS AGO.

>> (BAER) NEARBY, ON KING DRIVE IS A ROW OF UNUSUALLY TINY HOMES WITH EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE FRONT YARDS.

THEY'RE CALLED GARLOWS BECAUSE THEY ARE GARAGE SIZED BUNGALOWS.

MORE THAN 30 OF THESE 500-SQUARE-FOOT HOMES WERE BUILT HERE IN THE 1920'S, TO HELP FILL AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING SHORTAGE.

THE IDEA WAS THAT A YOUNG FAMILY COULD USE THEIR GARLOW AS A TINY BUNGALOW.

THEN WHEN THEY PUT TOGETHER A LITTLE NEST EGG, THEY COULD BUILD A LARGER HOUSE ON THAT BIG FRONT YARD, AND TURN THEIR GARLOW INTO A TWO CAR GARAGE.

>> AND THE FUNNY THING ABOUT IT IS, IF YOU LOOK UP AND DOWN THE BLOCK, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENED.

>> (BAER) PEOPLE JUST STAYED IN THE GAR.

>> THEY STAYED IN THE GAR.

>> (BAER) THAT'S BECAUSE SOON AFTER THESE HOMES WERE BUILT, THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR TWO PUT THE AMERICAN DREAM ON HOLD.

AND AFTER THE WAR, UPWARDLY MOBILE FAMILIES COULD JUST PICK UP AND MOVE TO THE SUBURBS.

>> WHAT YOU DO SEE ON THE FRONT OF THE LOT NOW ARE ACTUALLY GARAGES.

WHERE PEOPLE BUILT THE GARAGE WHERE THE HOUSE WOULD BE AND THEY KEPT THE GARLOW AS THEIR HOME IN THE BACK.

>> (BAER) AT 104TH PLACE, THE SOUTHSIDE BUNGALOW BELT RECEDES, MAKING WAY FOR THE LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF PRAIRIE STYLE HOMES IN THE CITY.

SEVEN WERE DESIGNED BY WALTER BURLEY GRIFFIN, A ONE TIME EMPLOYEE OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

LIKE WRIGHT, GRIFFIN REJECTED CLASSICAL, EUROPEAN STYLES, INSTEAD DRAWING HIS INSPIRATION FROM NATURE.

>> THE ELEMENTS THAT YOU FIND OUTSIDE, WOOD, STONE, ARE BROUGHT INSIDE, TAMED, MADE HUMANE AND MADE PROMINENT.

>>(BAER) THE ARCHITECT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED HERE IN HIS HOMETOWN BUT IN AUSTRALIA HE'S FAMOUS.

THAT'S BECAUSE HE AND HIS WIFE MARION MAHONY-GRIFFIN DESIGNED THE CAPITAL CITY OF CANBERRA.

CHICAGO DID BESTOW WALTER BURLEY GRIFFIN WITH ONE HONOR: IT LANDMARKED THIS STRETCH OF 104TH PLACE IN 1981...AND RENAMED IT.

OF COURSE, OAK PARK'S INCREDIBLE COLLECTION OF PRAIRIE STYLE HOMES IS NO SECRET.

BUT ON THE NORTH SHORE THERE'S A LESSER-KNOWN NEIGHBORHOOD FILLED WITH FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT GEMS-RAVINE BLUFFS, IN GLENCOE.

WRIGHT ACTUALLY DREW UP PLANS FOR AN ENTIRE DEVELOPMENT HERE.

IN THE END SIX OF HIS HOMES WERE BUILT.

HE ALSO DESIGNED THIS BRIDGE.

IT'S THE ONLY BRIDGE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

NOW IF YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN OUTDOORSY TYPE, BUT YOU STILL LIKE CITY-LIVING HERE'S ONE CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE YOU CAN HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

OLD EDGEBROOK IS BURIED IN A FOREST PRESERVE ON THE CITY'S NORTHWEST SIDE.

ONLY TWO STREETS CONNECT IT TO THE REST OF CHICAGO.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS BUILT IN THE 1890'S FOR OFFICIALS OF A NEARBY RAILROAD.

BUT THE DEVELOPERS' DREAMS OF BUILDING A LARGE COMMUTER SUBURB HERE WERE NEVER FULLY REALIZED.

ALL OF THEIR UNDEVELOPED LAND WAS BOUGHT UP BY THE COOK COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT IN 1918, LEAVING THIS UNUSUAL URBAN ISLAND.

PEOPLE DRIVE PAST THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IN PALATINE EVERY DAY, WITHOUT REALIZING IT WAS ONCE A RADICAL EXPERIMENT IN HOMEBUILDING.

THE U.S. GYPSUM COMPANY BUILT THIS "RESEARCH VILLAGE" IN 1954, TO SHOW HOW THEIR PRODUCTS COULD BE USED TO CONSTRUCT CHEAP, STURDY HOMES WITH MATERIALS LIKE CONCRETE, STEEL, AND GYPSUM.

THIS ONE WAS BUILT USING AN ODD COST-CUTTING METHOD: THE CONCRETE ROOF WAS POURED AT GROUND LEVEL, AND THEN IT WAS JACKED UP ONTO 6 STEEL COLUMNS.

THE IDEA WAS THAT THESE HOMES COULD BE MASS-PRODUCED, RELIEVING THE POST WORLD WAR TWO HOUSING SHORTAGE USING FACTORIES.

>> WE USED THE FACTORY TO SOLVE THE WAR: WE NEEDED AIRPLANES WE BUILT AIRPLANES, WE NEEDED TANKS WE BUILT TANKS, NOW WE NEED THESE FACTORIES TO SOLVE THE HOUSING SHORTAGE.

>> (BAER) BUT BUYERS ULTIMATELY THOUGHT THE DESIGNS WERE TOO RADICAL, AND THE HOMES WERE TOO EXPENSIVE TO MASS-PRODUCE.

ONLY SIX WERE BUILT HERE.

ONE, BILLED AS "INCOMBUSTIBLE", BURNT TO THE GROUND IN THE 1960'S.

>> (BAER) IN EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA A SOLID WALL OF STEEL MILLS DOMINATES MUCH OF THE LANDSCAPE.

BUT THERE'S ONE SPOT WHERE INDUSTRY GIVES WAY TO WHAT LOOKS LIKE AN ENGLISH VILLAGE; MARKTOWN WAS BUILT BY INDUSTRIALIST CLAYTON MARK IN 1917 FOR EMPLOYEES OF HIS NEIGHBORING STEEL COMPANY.

HE HOPED THAT BY OFFERING HIS WORKERS QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HOUSING HE COULD COMBAT HIGH TURNOVER.

MARKTOWN WAS DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT HOWARD VAN DOREN SHAW WHO'S BETTER KNOWN FOR THE SPRAWLING ESTATES HE BUILT ON CHICAGO'S NORTH SHORE.

HERE, HE DREW INSPIRATION FROM THE ENGLISH GARDEN CITY CONCEPT, RIGHT DOWN TO THE STREETS WHICH ARE SO NARROW RESIDENTS PARK ON THE SIDEWALK.

JUST ONE BLOCK FROM WRIGLEY FIELD IS ANOTHER SLICE OF ENGLAND, ALTA VISTA TERRACE WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF LONDON'S ROW HOUSES.

AT FIRST GLANCE THE HOMES LOOK LIKE THEY'RE ONE-OF-A-KIND.

BUT IN FACT, EACH ONE HAS A TWIN AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE STREET.

THIS IS ONE OF HUNDREDS OF DEVELOPMENTS BUILT BY REAL ESTATE MOGUL SAMUEL GROSS.

GROSS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN SHAPING THE CHICAGO WE KNOW TODAY.

BY 1893 HE'D BUILT 16 ENTIRE SUBURBS AND 7500 HOMES ALONG CHICAGO'S NEWLY BUILT TRANSIT LINES.

WHEN YOU THINK OF BRIDGEPORT YOU TEND TO THINK OF TWO LANDMARKS: THE HOME OF THE WHITE SOX, AND THE HOME OF RICHARD J. DALEY IN THE BUNGALOW BELT.

BUT THE HISTORIC HEART OF BRIDGEPORT IS NEARLY TWO MILES AWAY FROM HERE.

SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE STEVENSON EXPRESSWAY AND THE CHICAGO RIVER IS THE OLDEST PART OF BRIDGEPORT.

HERE THE STREETS DON'T RUN ON THE CITY GRID, INSTEAD THEY RUN PARALLEL TO THE RIVER, BECAUSE THIS WASN'T ORIGINALLY PART OF CHICAGO.

THE TOWN OF BRIDGEPORT WAS NAMED FOR A BRIDGE THAT WAS SO LOW BOATS HAD TO STOP AND UNLOAD, TURNING THE BRIDGE INTO A PORT.

IRISH AND GERMAN IMMIGRANTS SETTLED HERE IN THE 1830'S TO DIG THE ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL.

AT LEAST ONE HOUSE DATES BACK TO THE 1850'S.

WHEN THE STREETS WERE RAISED HERE TO BUILD SEWERS IN THE 1870'S IT LEFT MOST OF THESE HOUSES BELOW-GRADE IN A KIND OF MOAT.

LATER, THE EXPRESSWAY CUT OFF THIS SECTION OF BRIDGEPORT FROM THE REST OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

IT'S NOT SO EASY TO FIND.

BUT THAT SENSE OF DISCOVERY WHEN YOU DO COME ACROSS A NEIGHBORHOOD LIKE OLD BRIDGEPORT, OR AUBURN PARK WHERE WE STARTED OUR STORY, MAKES EXPLORING CHICAGO AN ENDLESS ADVENTURE.

>> CHICAGO HAS ITS WAY OF DOING THAT, JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU UNDERSTAND THE PATTERN, YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S ON THE NEXT BLOCK, CHICAGO WILL THROW SOMETHING LIKE THIS AT YOU.

IT WILL THROW A LAKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY, IF IT NEEDS TO, JUST TO GIVE YOU THAT BIT OF SURPRISE AND AWE.

>> (BAER) OH THE THINGS I DO FOR MY JOB...

I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT THIS.

I'M PUTTING ON ALL THIS SAFETY GEAR SO THAT I CAN BE LIFTED UP BY A CRANE AND LOWERED STRAIGHT DOWN A 350-FOOT LONG SHAFT IN SOMETHING CALLED A "MAN BASKET."

A WHAT?

>> A MAN BASKET.

IT'S EASY NO PROBLEM.

>> A MAN BASKET?

>> YEAH.

>> THAT'S A MAN BASKET?

THAT LOOKS LIKE A TICKET BOOTH.

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

WELL TO TELL THE STORY OF WHAT'S UNDER CHICAGO I THOUGHT I'D START AT THE VERY BOTTOM.

DEEP TUNNEL.

>> JUST KINDA FORGET THE FACT THAT THERE'S ONE CABLE HOLDING US.

>> AND IT'S 300 FEET STRAIGHT DOWN, RIGHT?

THIS 3.5 BILLION DOLLAR SYSTEM HELPS TO CONTROL FLOODING AND WATER POLLUTION ALL OVER OUR REGION.

OH MY GOSH, THAT'S A LONG WAY DOWN THERE.

SO LONG!

WHEN THERE'S A BIG STORM THAT OVERWHELMS THE REGULAR SEWER SYSTEM, EXCESS STORM WATER AND SEWAGE ARE DIVERTED INTO DEEP TUNNEL AND ITS RESERVOIRS AND LATER PUMPED TO SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS.

IT'S GETTING A LITTLE COOLER AND COOLER.

EVERY TEN FEET OR SO IT GETS A COUPLE DEGREES COOLER.

BEFORE DEEP TUNNEL, ALL THAT NASTY OVERFLOW WAS SENT UNTREATED INTO THE RIVER AND SOMETIMES EVEN INTO LAKE MICHIGAN.

THESE TUNNELS WERE DUG MOSTLY THROUGH SOLID ROCK OVER A 30-YEAR PERIOD STARTING IN 1975.

THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN BEFORE THE TUNNELS WERE FINISHED.

NOWADAYS YOU CAN'T GO INSIDE THEM BECAUSE THEY'RE OFTEN FILLED WITH WASTEWATER.

>> OK HERE WE ARE.

>> (BAER) SO INSTEAD MY GUIDE PAUL WYSOCKI OF THE METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT HAS TAKEN ME INTO THIS VALVE CHAMBER ADJACENT TO THE TUNNEL NEAR THE CALUMET RIVER ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE.

DEEP TUNNEL IS RIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS WALL.

>> RIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT WALL YOU GOT A 21 FOOT DIAMETER TUNNEL.

THIS CHAMBER WAS BUILT FOR EMERGENCIES.

IT CONTAINS AUTOMATIC SHUTOFF VALVES THAT PREVENT FLOODING IN A NEARBY UNDERGROUND PUMPING STATION.

ELEVATOR GOING UP.

THAT'S THE NEXT STOP ON OUR TOUR.

TO GET THERE PAUL TAKES ME BACK UP TOP TO A DIFFERENT SHAFT WHERE WE DESCEND AGAIN.

THIS TIME IN AN ELEVATOR >> ALRIGHT, HERE WE ARE.

THESE PASSAGEWAYS ARE CARVED OUT OF SOLID LIMESTONE.

TECHNICALLY, NIAGRAN DOLAMITE.

LOOK AT THIS, FOSSILS.

3 OR 4 HUNDRED MILLION YEAR OLD SEA CREATURES.

THIS ROCK IS WHAT WAS LEFT BEHIND FROM A WARM, SHALLOW OCEAN THAT COVERED THIS AREA HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO.

WE FOLLOW A SERIES OF HALLWAYS THROUGH WATERTIGHT DOORS.

>> THIS IS A BUNKER.

I'LL SHOW YOU THE BUNKER.

>> OH MY GOSH!

UNTIL WE FIND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.

>> OH MAN!

THIS MASSIVE PUMPING STATION LIFTS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER FROM DEEP TUNNEL TO GROUND LEVEL SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS.

IMAGINE A SPACE THE SIZE OF A CATHEDRAL UNDERGROUND.

SO SHOW ME WHAT WE GOT TO SEE HERE.

THE NEXT STOP ON OUR UNDER CHICAGO TOUR IS ANOTHER BURIED PUMP ROOM RIGHT ON THE DOWNTOWN LAKEFRONT.

COMPARED TO DEEP TUNNEL IT'S PUNY AND IT'S ONLY A FEW FEET BELOW GROUND.

BUT THESE PUMPS PUT ON QUITE A SHOW.

BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN IS ONE OF CHICAGO'S MOST POPULAR ATTRACTIONS.

BUT FEW VISITORS KNOW IT LIKE RETIRED CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT ENGINEER JOHN BURKE.

>> WE GOT THREE MOTOR DRIVEN PUMPS.

DURING A MAJOR DISPLAY, ALL THREE OF THEM ARE RUNNING, AND THEY ARE PUMPING 14,100 GALLONS PER MINUTE.

>> IT'S LOUD IN HERE!

>> IT IS.

>> (BAER) ONE LEVEL UP IS A HALF-BURIED CONTROL ROOM WITH A VIEW OF THE FOUNTAIN.

>> THIS IS THE ORIGINAL CONSOLE THAT THE ENGINEER WOULD STAND HERE AND OPERATE.

>> DID YOU OPERATE THIS?

>> YES.

>> WHAT DOES THIS DO?

>> THIS DOES ALL THE DIFFERENT JETS OUT THERE.

>> SO YOU WOULD DO THIS SHOW LIVE?

>> YES, YES, WE HAD A LITTLE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW; SHOOT THIS JET UP AT THIS TIME AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID.

>> (BAER) TODAY THE SHOW IS AUTOMATED AND THE VALVES ARE ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED BUT JOHN LET ME CHOREOGRAPH A LITTLE WATER BALLET.

>> JUST PUT IT ON OFF.

>> OFF.

>> AND THIS ONE YOU PULL.

THERE YOU GO.

>> (BAER) BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN IS FILLED WITH 1.5 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER.

AND EVERY DROP OF THAT WATER ALONG WITH THE WATER IN MANY OF OUR HOMES COMES FROM LAKE MICHIGAN VIA ANOTHER AMAZING TUNNEL SYSTEM.

MAYBE YOU'VE NOTICED THESE WATER INTAKE CRIBS OUT ON THE LAKE.

EACH ONE MARKS THE RECEIVING END OF A TUNNEL BURIED UNDER THE LAKE BOTTOM THAT SUPPLIES THE CITY WITH WATER.

THE FIRST WATER TUNNEL WAS DUG BY HAND IN THE 1860S.

THE TUNNELERS ACTUALLY STARTED DIGGING AT BOTH ENDS AND MET IN THE MIDDLE UNDER THE FLOOR OF LAKE MICHIGAN!

THAT FIRST TUNNEL SUPPLIED THE FAMOUS CHICAGO WATER WORKS ON NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE.

THE CITY ALSO DUG TUNNELS UNDER THE RIVER STARTING AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE TUNNELS UNDER THE LAKE.

THEY WERE BUILT FOR CARRIAGES, PEDESTRIANS AND LATER STREETCARS AT VAN BUREN, WASHINGTON AND LASALLE STREETS.

JUST MONTHS AFTER THE LASALLE STREET TUNNEL WAS FINISHED IT SAVED THE LIVES OF MANY PEOPLE FLEEING THE CHICAGO FIRE AFTER BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER BURNED.

THE TUNNELS ARE BLOCKED OFF TODAY.

THIS ENTRANCE ON LASALLE STREET IS NOW USED FOR UNDERGROUND PARKING.

SOME PARTS OF UNDERGROUND CHICAGO ARE FAMILIAR TO ALL OF US, LIKE THE SUBWAYS.

THE CITY OPENED ITS FIRST SUBWAY ON STATE STREET IN 1943.

AND THE PEDWAYS, ESSENTIALLY SUBTERRANEAN SIDEWALKS CONNECTING MANY LOOP BUILDINGS.

WE ALL APPRECIATE THAT IN THE WINTER TIME.

BUT HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT MYSTERIOUS TUNNELS UNDER FORD CITY MALL ON CHICAGO'S SOUTHWEST SIDE?

FRANKLY I WAS SKEPTICAL.

BUT IT TURNS OUT THE STORIES ARE TRUE!

A HUGE TUNNEL SYSTEM EXTENDS FOR MORE THAN A MILE UNDER THE BUILDING.

>> PART OF SEARS IS RIGHT ABOVE US AND THE FARTHER DOWN YOU GO IS OLD NAVY, TILL YOU GET TO THE END WHERE MARSHALL'S IS.

>> (BAER) THESE LONG HALLWAYS ARE LEFT OVER FROM THE DAYS WHEN THIS MALL WAS ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST DEFENSE PLANTS OPERATED BY DODGE MOTOR COMPANY AND DESIGNED BY THE FAMOUS INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECT ALBERT KAHN.

>> IT STARTED OUT AS THE FACTORY FOR THE B-29 ENGINE.

THEY BUILT IT IN 1943.

THEY STARTED BUILDING THE B-29 ENGINES FOR THE PACIFIC, THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC.

>>(BAER) THERE'S A POPULAR MYTH THAT THESE TUNNELS EXTENDED ALL THE WAY TO NEARBY MIDWAY AIRPORT TO DELIVER WAR MATERIEL IN SECRET.

THAT'S NOT TRUE.

BUT THE TUNNELS DO GO TO THESE EERIE ABANDONED TEST CELLS ON THE EDGE OF THE PROPERTY WHERE FINISHED ENGINES WERE FIRED UP BEFORE BEING SENT INTO ACTION.

OF COURSE THE STORY OF UNDERGROUND CHICAGO ISN'T ONLY ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE.

ONE OF THE CITY'S MOST FAMOUS RESTAURANTS IS ALSO BENEATH THE STREETS.

>> CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

NO FRIES, CHIPS, AND NO PEPSI, COKE!

>> (BAER) THE BILLY GOAT WAS MADE FAMOUS BY JOHN BELUSHI AND DAN ACKROYD IN THIS ICONIC SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SKETCH.

>> CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

CHEEZBORGER!

>> (BAER) JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM THE BILLY GOAT, BELUSHI AND ACKROYD FILMED THIS CLASSIC CHASE SCENE FOR THE BLUES BROTHERS MOVIE IN ANOTHER LOWER LEVEL LOCALE.

>> WELL THIS IS DEFINITELY LOWER WACKER DRIVE.

>> (BAER) OTHER HOLLYWOOD MOVIEMAKERS HAVE FOUND LOWER WACKER EQUALLY IRRESISTIBLE.

THIS PROBABLY WASN'T WHAT ARCHITECT DANIEL BURNHAM HAD IN MIND WHEN HE ENVISIONED LOWER WACKER DRIVE IN HIS 1909 PLAN OF CHICAGO.

IT WAS DESIGNED TO KEEP UNSIGHTLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC OFF OF CITY STREETS.

A MUCH, MUCH BIGGER SYSTEM BUILT TO FIGHT STREET-LEVEL CONGESTIONS IS INFAMOUS TODAY; THE FREIGHT TUNNELS!

>> UNDER PRACTICALLY EVERY STREET IN THE LOOP, AND A LITTLE BEYOND, IS A SINGLE TRACK TUNNEL.

THIS SYSTEM IS HUGE.

ORIGINALLY IT WAS ABOUT 62 MILES IN LENGTH.

IT WAS ALL HAND DUG.

IT WAS A MAJOR CIVIL ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT FOR ITS TIME.

>> (BAER) THE TUNNELS WERE ABANDONED IN 1959 AND ALL BUT FORGOTTEN UNTIL APRIL 13TH, 1992 WHEN A TUNNEL UNDER THE RIVER THAT HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY A PILE DRIVING CREW GAVE WAY, AND WATER STARTED POURING INTO BASEMENTS ALL OVER THE LOOP.

THE CLEANUP TOOK MONTHS AND COST MILLIONS.

TODAY THE TUNNELS ARE OFF LIMITS TO ALL BUT AUTHORIZED MAINTENANCE CREWS.

BUT WE FOUND ONE LOOP BASEMENT WHERE WE COULD AT LEAST TAKE A PEEK BEHIND A WATERTIGHT DOOR INSTALLED AFTER THE FLOOD.

>> OH, MAN.

>> AND YOU ALWAYS GET THE WIND.

IT'S THAT KIND OF DAMP MUSTY SMELL.

>> THE TUNNELS WERE PRIMARILY USED TO HANDLE MERCHANDISE LONG BEFORE FED EX AND THE TUNNEL COMPANY TRAINS WOULD PICK UP THE PARCELS AND DELIVER THEM TO DEPARTMENT STORES.

A BIG COMMODITY WAS HEATING COAL AND THEN OF COURSE ONCE YOU BURN THE COAL YOU HAVE ASHES LEFT, AND THEY HAD A SERVICE THAT CARTED THE ASHES AWAY TO A LANDFILL.

>>(BAER) THE ILLINOIS TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY STARTED DIGGING THE TUNNELS IN 1899.

THEY TOLD THE CITY THEY WERE JUST LAYING TELEPHONE WIRES.

BUT THEY SECRETLY HAD BIGGER PLANS.

FROM THE BACK ROOM OF A BAR CO-OWNED BY ALDERMAN JOHNNY POWERS THEY QUIETLY BEGAN DIGGING TUNNELS BIG ENOUGH FOR SMALL TRAINS.

>> WHEN THE CITY FOUND OUT, THE ALDERMEN ROSE UP IN RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION.

>> (BAER) NOW, DID THAT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH BRIBES?

>> BRIBES.

HEAVEN FORBID, BUT YES.

ALDERMEN BACK THEN MADE NO PRETENSE ABOUT WANTING A BRIBE AND FRANCHISES FOR RAILROADS, STREET RAILWAYS, THEY ALL COMMANDED A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL OF PAYMENT THAN A TELEPHONE SYSTEM WOULD.

>> (BAER) WHEN CONSTRUCTION WAS FINISHED, THE TUNNEL COMPANY THREW A PARTY TO CELEBRATE.

>> THE MANAGEMENT SET UP A TWO-BLOCK-LONG ROW OF TABLES IN THE JACKSON TUNNEL AT LASALLE, THEY HAD A BAND DOWN THERE.

>> (BAER) THE TUNNELS BECAME SOMETHING OF A TOURIST ATTRACTION.

CELEBRITIES, DIGNITARIES AND EVEN MOVIE STARS LIKE MAE WEST TOOK PRIVATE TOURS.

VIPS OFTEN ASKED TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED UNDER THE INTERSECTION OF STATE AND MADISON, BECAUSE IT WAS CALLED "THE BUSIEST CORNER IN THE WORLD."

BUT GETTING THEM THERE WAS TOO MUCH TROUBLE SO THE TUNNEL COMPANY PAINTED A FAKE INTERSECTION OF STATE AND MADISON CLOSER TO THE VISITOR ENTRANCE.

WAS IT EVER PROFITABLE?

>> THE TUNNELS WERE PROFITABLE ONLY FOR A SMALL PART OF THEIR HISTORY.

>> (BAER) IN THE END, THE TUNNEL TRAINS JUST COULDN'T COMPETE AGAINST TRUCKS, AND BUILDINGS SWITCHED FROM COAL HEAT TO GAS.

SO THE SYSTEM SIMPLY OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS.

SINCE THE FLOOD, CROSSINGS UNDER THE RIVER HAVE BEEN SEALED OFF AND HIGH WATER ALARMS INSTALLED.

PARTS OF THE TUNNELS NOW CARRY UTILITIES AND FIBER OPTIC LINES.

BUT FOR THE MOST PART, THIS PIECE OF CHICAGO'S UNDERGROUND IS LOCKED UP TIGHT.

COMING UP ON NEXT ON HIDDEN CHICAGO.

HOW CHICAGO REVOLUTIONIZED MOVIE-GOING IN THE SILENT ERA.

WE'LL VISIT THE WORLD'S FIRST MOVIE PALACES.

AND WE'LL DISCOVER THINGS INVENTED AND MADE IN CHICAGO, LIKE THE OSCAR STATUETTE, THE FIREPOLE AND EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE REINDEER.

STAY TUNED!

THE LOBBY'S STILL HERE.

WALKING INTO THE HOUSE OF PRAYER CHURCH OF GOD, YOU SENSE THAT THIS BUILDING HAD A GLORIOUS PAST.

THE OLD BOXES ON EITHER SIDE.

YOU FIND CLUES THAT BEFORE THIS WAS A CHURCH... WOW!

BACK IN THE DAYS OF SILENT FILM... BEFORE THIS WEST SIDE NEIGHBORHOOD FELL ON HARD TIMES...

THIS WAS CHICAGO'S FIRST MOVIE PALACE: THE CENTRAL PARK THEATRE.

>> WHEN YOU WALKED INTO THE CENTRAL PARK YOU WALKED INTO A LARGE SPACE, WITH DOUBLE STAIRCASES COMING DOWN, AND DRAPERIES, AND HANGINGS, AND STATUARY, AND PAINTINGS, AND YOU IMMEDIATELY KNEW THAT YOU'D ARRIVED SOMEWHERE SPECIAL.

>> (BAER) THE CENTRAL PARK THEATRE WAS BUILT IN 1917 BY THE CHICAGOANS WHO WOULD BECOME THE MASTERS OF THE MOVIE PALACE, BALABAN AND KATZ.

THE DUO PREVIOUSLY OWNED A FEW OF THE PRIMITIVE STOREFRONT MOVIE HOUSES KNOWN AS NICKELODEONS.

THESE WERE SIMPLE, CRAMPED ROOMS WHERE PATRONS COULD SEE A SILENT FILM FOR A NICKEL.

>> THE NICKELODEONS WERE WORKING-CLASS, BLUE COLLAR.

THEY WERE NOT PLACES WHERE WOMEN WOULD GO, SO BALABAN AND KATZ KNEW THAT IF THEY GLITZED THINGS UP AND CREATED A PALACE THAT THEY WOULD GET A BIGGER AUDIENCE.

>> (BAER) THE CENTRAL PARK THEATRE WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST MECHANICALLY AIR-CONDITIONED THEATER.

IN AN ERA WHEN MANY THEATERS HAD TO SHUT DOWN DURING THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS, FAMILIES COULD COME HERE TO COOL OFF, AND ENJOY A SILENT FILM AND A LIVE STAGE SHOW.

IT WAS ON THIS STAGE THAT JAZZ LEGEND BENNY GOODMAN MADE HIS PROFESSIONAL DEBUT.

AND THE BIGGEST SURPRISE HERE IS WHAT'S ABOVE THIS FALSE CEILING.

HIDING UP HERE IS THE ORIGINAL BALCONY.

THERE'S THE OLD PROJECTION BOOTH, RIGHT UP THERE.

AND THAT'S THE ORGAN LOFT, WHERE THE ORGAN PIPES WOULD HAVE BEEN.

AND UP ABOVE IS THE SPECTACULAR DOMED CEILING.

IT WAS ONCE COVERED WITH HAND-PAINTED MURALS, ILLUMINATED BY A RAINBOW OF BRIGHTLY-COLORED STAGE LIGHTS.

THIS THEATER WAS A HIT.

AND BALABAN AND KATZ SET OUT TO BRING THE MOVIE PALACE EXPERIENCE TO OTHER CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS.

ON THE NORTH SIDE THEY BUILT THE RIVIERA.

ON THE SOUTH SIDE THE NOW-DEMOLISHED TIVOLI.

AND DOWNTOWN, THEIR FLAGSHIP THEATER, THE CHICAGO.

FOR THESE THEATERS, BALABAN AND KATZ TURNED TO THE ARCHITECTS WHO MADE THE CENTRAL PARK A SUCCESS: RAPP AND RAPP.

THEIR DESIGNS TRANSPORTED MOVIE-GOERS TO ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE, EVOKING THE OPULENT PALACES OF 17TH CENTURY FRANCE.

WHILE OTHER THEATERS MERELY HAD BATHROOMS, THESE PALACES BOASTED ELEGANTLY DECORATED LADIES' LOUNGES.

AND WELL-APPOINTED SMOKING ROOMS FOR MEN.

FOR THE KIDS, BALABAN AND KATZ OFFERED A PLAYGROUND AND FREE CHILDCARE.

AND EACH AND EVERY GUEST WAS PERSONALLY ESCORTED TO THEIR SEAT BY AN USHER IN MILITARY-STYLE REGALIA.

THEIR UNIFORMITY WENT BEYOND JUST THEIR UNIFORMS: USHERS HAD TO BE WHITE MALES, 5 FEET 7 INCHES TALL, AND 125 TO 145 POUNDS.

>> THE USHERS WERE A HIGHLY DISCIPLINED WORKFORCE HERE.

THEY WERE PICKED FROM UNIVERSITIES OR COLLEGES, THEY WERE CONSIDERED MEN OF GOOD BREEDING.

>> (BAER) AND THEN THERE WAS THE SHOW ITSELF.

FOR 50 CENTS OR LESS AUDIENCES WERE TREATED TO A 2 AND ½ HOUR EXTRAVAGANZA.

>>YOU WOULD HAVE AN ORCHESTRA OF 35 PIECES PLAYING IN THE PIT, IT WOULD COME UP ON AN ELEVATOR.

YOU WOULD HAVE THE ORGANIST PLAY A 6 OR 8 MINUTE SPOTLIGHT SOLO.

YOU WOULD HAVE A NEWSREEL.

AND THEN YOU WOULD HAVE A 20 OR 25 MINUTE STAGE SHOW.

AFTER THAT YOU'D SEE A MOVIE, WHICH IN THOSE DAYS WAS ONLY 60 TO 75 MINUTES LONG.

>> (BAER) BY THE MID-'20S THE BALABAN AND KATZ FORMULA WAS BEING COPIED ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ALONE, THERE WERE MORE THAN 350 THEATERS.

MANY OF WHICH REMAIN... LIKE THE ORIENTAL THEATRE, WHICH IS NOW USED FOR STAGE PRODUCTIONS.

THIS WAS THE SECOND DOWNTOWN MOVIE PALACE BUILT BY BALABAN AND KATZ.

IN THE 1920'S THERE WERE 10 THEATERS WITHIN ONE BLOCK OF HERE!

IN LOGAN SQUARE IS THE 2,900 SEAT CONGRESS THEATER.

THIS MOVIE PALACE WAS BOUGHT BY BALABAN AND KATZ IN 1929.

IT'S NOW A LIVE MUSIC VENUE, BUT THE ORIGINAL INTERIOR IS REMARKABLY INTACT.

THE RIALTO SQUARE IN JOLIET WAS BUILT BY THE RUBENS BROTHERS, ONE OF MANY COMPANIES TO EMULATE BALABAN AND KATZ.

THEY EVEN HIRED ARCHITECTS RAPP AND RAPP.

THEY BASED PARTS OF THEIR DESIGN ON ROME'S PANTHEON, AND THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES NEAR PARIS.

AND ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE, THE MIDDLE EASTERN STYLE REGAL THEATER IS NOW USED FOR CONCERTS.

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED THE AVALON WHEN IT WAS BUILT IN 1927.

ARCHITECT JOHN EBERSON SAID HE DREW HIS INSPIRATION FROM A PERSIAN INCENSE BURNER THAT HE FOUND IN AN ANTIQUE MARKET.

ALL OF THESE THEATERS WERE IMPRESSIVE, BUT THE GRANDEST OF THEM ALL WAS BALABAN AND KATZ'S UPTOWN THEATRE.

IT WAS BUILT TO THE TUNE OF 4 MILLION DOLLARS, A STUNNING SUM IN 1925.

NO EXPENSE WAS SPARED, FROM THE 30,000 DOLLAR BRONZE CHANDELIERS, TO THE NEARLY 100 OIL PAINTINGS THAT GRACED THE WALLS, TO THE $50,000 WORTH OF PLUSH CARPETING AND DRAPES.

BUT MOST REMARKABLE WAS THE UPTOWN'S SIZE--4,300 SEATS!

IT'S SAID TO BE THE SECOND LARGEST MOVIE PALACE IN AMERICA, AFTER RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL IN NEW YORK.

>> THE AUDITORIUM HAS ABOUT 9 STORIES OF SPACE IN IT.

IT'S JUST A VAST, VAST ROOM.

>> (BAER) AND YET 85 YEARS AFTER IT WAS BUILT, THE MASSIVE THEATER IS EMPTY AND DECAYING.

THE UPTOWN WAS INITIALLY A SUCCESS: AS MANY AS 56,000 CUSTOMERS WALKED THROUGH ITS DOORS IN A GIVEN A WEEK.

THEN CAME THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

THE PUBLIC COULDN'T AFFORD TO VISIT MOVIE PALACES, AND THEATRE OWNERS COULDN'T AFFORD THE TOP-NOTCH SERVICE AND ELABORATE STAGE SHOWS.

♪ ♪ AT THE SAME TIME, TALKING FILMS LIKE "THE JAZZ SINGER" BROUGHT THE SILENT FILM ERA TO AN END, AND THE MOVIE PALACES, BECAME OBSOLETE.

>> YOU DIDN'T NEED LIVE ORCHESTRAS, YOU DIDN'T NEED STAGES OR ORCHESTRA PITS OR DRESSING ROOMS.

SO YOU BUILT STREAMLINED, MODERN THEATERS OF PERHAPS 1,000 SEATS.

>> (BAER) THE UPTOWN THEATRE CONTINUED TO SHOW MOVIES THROUGH THE 1970'S, IT EVEN HOSTED CONCERTS, LIKE BOB MARLEY AND THE GRATEFUL DEAD.

BUT THE REVENUES WERE NEVER ENOUGH TO PAY THE BILLS FOR SUCH A HUGE THEATER, AND IT WAS SHUTTERED IN 1981.

TODAY IT'S OWNED BY A CONCERT AND SPECIAL EVENTS PRODUCER, WHO HAS ESTIMATED IT WOULD COST 40 MILLION DOLLARS TO RESTORE THIS THEATRE TO ITS FORMER GLORY.

DOZENS OF OTHER THEATERS SUFFERED A SIMILAR FATE TO THE UPTOWN.

IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AROUND CHICAGO, YOU'LL NOTICE REMNANTS OF THESE OLD THEATERS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

LIKE THE STATE-LAKE THEATER DOWNTOWN...

THE BELMONT ON THE NORTH SIDE ... AND THE BELPARK ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE...

THIS WAS ONCE THE 3,000 SEAT DIVERSEY THEATER IN THE LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD.

IT WAS GUTTED TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE CENTURY MALL IN 1973.

BUT BY 2000 THE MALL WAS STRUGGLING, AND SO THE OWNERS CONVERTED ITS TOP FLOORS BACK INTO A MOVIE THEATER.

STILL OTHER MOVIE PALACES WERE LOST ALTOGETHER TO THE WRECKING BALL.

>> THE NEIGHBORHOOD THEATERS IN CHICAGO HAD BECOME WHITE ELEPHANTS OR DINOSAURS, AND THE OVERHEAD TO OPERATE THEM WAS INCREDIBLE.

SO LOTS OF THOSE BUILDINGS CAME DOWN TO CREATE PARKING LOTS.

>> (BAER) YET MOVIE PALACES LIKE THE CHICAGO THEATRE HAVE SURVIVED AND EVEN THRIVED AS VENUES FOR LIVE MUSIC AND STAGE SHOWS.

AND ONE HISTORIC THEATER, IS BEING USED EXACTLY AS IT WAS INTENDED.

THIS IS THE PORTAGE THEATRE ON CHICAGO'S NORTHWEST SIDE.

90 YEARS AFTER IT FIRST OPENED ITS DOORS, THIS THEATER IS ONCE AGAIN SHOWING SILENT FILMS.

FILM BUFFS COME HERE FOR THE NOSTALGIA FACTOR.

BUT THEY ALSO COME FOR THE MUSIC...

THE FANTASTIC STORYTELLING OF THESE TIMELESS FILMS... AND FOR THE ARCHITECTURE THAT LETS THEM ESCAPE TO ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE... [ALARM RINGING] WHEN THE ALARM SOUNDS IN A FIRE STATION, THERE'S NOT A SECOND TO LOSE.

IN OLDER TWO-STORY FIREHOUSES LIKE COMPANY 16 IN BRONZEVILLE, FIREFIGHTERS STILL USE THE TRADITIONAL POLE.

THIS CRITICAL TIMESAVER WAS INVENTED RIGHT HERE IN CHICAGO IN 1878 AT ENGINE COMPANY 21 IN WHAT IS NOW THE SOUTH LOOP.

THAT WAS CHICAGO'S FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN FIRE COMPANY.

THE COMPANY'S WHITE CAPTAIN DAVID KENYON GOT THE IDEA WHEN AN ALARM SOUNDED AND HE SAW ONE OF HIS FIREFIGHTERS SLIDE DOWN FROM THE THIRD-FLOOR HAYLOFT ON A WOODEN POLE THAT WAS USED TO SECURE HAY TO WAGONS.

THE FIRE CHIEF GAVE KENYON PERMISSION TO CUT A HOLE IN THE SECOND FLOOR AND INSTALL A WAXED WOODEN POLE.

OTHER FIRE COMPANIES MADE FUN OF KENYON UNTIL THEY STARTED NOTICING HIS MEN WERE FIRST ON THE SCENE AGAIN AND AGAIN.

BEFORE LONG, EVERY FIREHOUSE HAD A POLE.

THE FIRE POLE ISN'T THE ONLY THING INVENTED IN CHICAGO.

IN FACT YOU'LL BE SURPRISED TO LEARN HOW MANY FAMILIAR THINGS CHICAGO GAVE THE WORLD.

LIKE WALGREENS ONE OF AMERICA'S BIGGEST DRUGSTORE CHAINS.

CHARLES R. WALGREEN OPENED HIS FIRST STORE IN 1901 ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

HIS OBSESSION WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE MADE HIM A MILLIONAIRE AND SO DID THE MALTED MILK SHAKE.

WALGREENS' SODA FOUNTAIN MANAGER IVAR "POP" COULSON INVENTED IT IN 1922 WHEN HE MIXED A SCOOP OF ICE CREAM INTO A STANDARD MALTED MILK DRINK.

DURING LUNCH HOUR CUSTOMERS LINED UP OUT THE DOOR FOR THEM.

SODA FOUNTAINS ARE A THING OF THE PAST AT WALGREENS BUT TODAY IN EVERY AISLE YOU'LL FIND PRODUCTS INVENTED OR MADE IN CHICAGO AS I DISCOVERED ON A VISIT WITH CHICAGO'S CULTURAL HISTORIAN TIM SAMUELSON.

WRIGLEY'S GUM, BIG CHICAGO COMPANY, RIGHT?

>> YOU BET, BUT SOMETIMES IT TAKES A FEW STEPS BEFORE PEOPLE GET THE FINAL IDEA AND WRIGLEY IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF IT.

>> WILLIAM WRIGLEY STARTED OUT SELLING SCOURING SOAP AND GIVING AWAY FREE PACKETS OF BAKING POWDER WITH EVERY PURCHASE.

>> AND IT TURNED OUT THE BAKING POWDER WAS MORE POPULAR THAN THE SOAP, SO HE STARTS TO SELL BAKING POWDER, AND WHAT'S THE PREMIUM NOW, HE PUTS A COUPLE STICKS OF GUM ON IT, THAT HE'D PURCHASED.

AND NOW THE GUM IS MORE POPULAR THAN THE BAKING SODA AND THEN HE DECIDES NOT ONLY IS HE GOING TO SELL GUM, BUT HE'S GOING TO MAKE GUM.

>> (BAER) WRIGLEY WAS ALSO A GENIUS AT ADVERTISING HIS PRODUCTS.

HE SAID HIS GUM WAS GOOD FOR YOUR TEETH AND WOULD SETTLE YOUR STOMACH AFTER A BIG MEAL.

>> AND ALSO THINGS LIKE IF YOU'RE RIDING IN YOUR AUTOMOBILE, AND YOU GET THIRSTY, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PULL OUT A STICK OF CHEWING GUM AND KEEP ON DRIVING.

>> (BAER) TOOTSIE ROLLS WEREN'T INVENTED IN CHICAGO.

BUT SINCE THE 1960S THEY'VE BEEN CRANKING THEM OUT HERE IN THIS FACTORY NEAR FORD CITY MALL.

OH I GOT THREE.

LOOK AT THAT.

AND THEY'RE WARM.

DID I SAY "CRANKING THEM OUT?"

THAT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

THEY MAKE 66 MILLION TOOTSIE ROLLS EVERYDAY HERE.

THAT IS GREAT.

LIKE MANY CONFECTIONERS , BRACH'S MOVED OUT OF CHICAGO LEAVING BEHIND AN ABANDONED FACTORY.

HOLLYWOOD PRODUCERS SAVED THE COMPANY THE TROUBLE OF DEMOLISHING PART OF THEIR DERELICT WEST SIDE COMPLEX.

IT WAS USED AS THE HOSPITAL IN DARK NIGHT, A MOVIE SHOT IN CHICAGO.

THE LATE HEATH LEDGER WAS POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED AN OSCAR FOR HIS ROLE AS THE JOKER IN THAT MOVIE.

AND LIKE ALL OSCARS, HIS STATUE WAS MADE IN CHICAGO AT A COMPANY CALLED R. S. OWENS .

>> IT TAKES ABOUT 12 MAN HOURS TO MAKE AN OSCAR.

IT IS VERY MUCH HANDS ON.

AS YOU CAN SEE WE HAVE HAND CASTING, HAND POLISHING, PLATED, COPPER, NICKEL, SILVER AND GOLD, 24 CARAT GOLD PLATED, SO EACH OSCAR HAS ITS OWN INDIVIDUALITY.

>>I'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY.

BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE I HAVE TO GIVE THIS BACK.

HERE YOU GO NOREEN.

AND WHAT WOULD THE MOVIES BE WITHOUT POPCORN.

NOW POPCORN WASN'T INVENTED IN CHICAGO.

BUT THE THING THAT PUT POPCORN AND THE MOVIES TOGETHER WAS...

THE POPCORN MACHINE!

THIS MECHANIZED STEAM-POWERED CONTRAPTION WAS THE CREATION OF CHARLES CRETORS.

>> POPCORN BEFORE WAS MORE ALMOST LIKE YOU'D ALMOST HAVE OVER A CAMP FIRE OR FIREPLACE, PUT IT IN THE FIRE, IT WOULD HEAT UNEVENLY, HALF OF THEM WOULD BURN, SOME OF THEM WOULD POP.

WITH THE HOT OIL POPCORN MAKER IT HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL UNIFORM HIGH HEAT IT WOULD POP THEM LARGE, FRESH WITH VERY FEW WASTE OR BURNED KERNELS AND YOU COULD ACTUALLY MAKE THEM VERY EFFICIENTLY, JUST KEEP THEM COMING.

>> (BAER) CRETORS SHOWCASED HIS NEW INVENTION TO INTERNATIONAL CROWDS AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION OF 1893 IN CHICAGO.

FAIR GOERS WERE ALSO INTRODUCED TO... >> THE ZIPPER!

>> OK. >> A MAN NAMED WHITCOMB JUDSON, A CHICAGOAN, IN THE 1890'S COMES UP WITH A MECHANICAL DEVICE TO FASTEN YOUR CLOTHES, NO MORE TROUBLESOME BUTTONS >>(BAER) JUDSON WAS AN INVENR WHO SEEMED TO LIKE COMPLEX DEVICES.

HE PATENTED A HOPELESSLY COMPLICATED SYSTEM FOR POWERING STREETCARS WITH COMPRESSED AIR.

JUDSON'S SHOE FASTENER WAS ALSO MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN A MODERN DAY ZIPPER.

FOR ONE THING YOU HAD TO REMOVE THE CLASP AND TURN IT AROUND TO UNZIP.

HE CALLED IT A CLASP LOCKER.

THE B.F. GOODRICH COMPANY LATER CAME UP WITH THE NAME ZIPPER.

WHAT ELSE DO WE HAVE IN OUR CART THERE, TIM?

>> WELL, HOW ABOUT OSCAR MEYER WIENERS OR HOW ABOUT OSCAR MEYER... >> BOLOGNA!

[SINGING] >> IN THE GERMAN COMMUNITY THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE MASTERS OF SAUSAGE.

BUT HOW TO MAKE A GOOD TASTING SAUSAGE OR BOLOGNA THAT YOU COULD PACKAGE YOU COULD SHIP LONG DISTANCES TO STORES, OSCAR MAYER WAS ONE OF THE REAL PIONEERS IN IT.

AND ALSO THEY HAD A GREAT SENSE OF PROMOTING IT, BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE SUSPICIOUS OF THINGS THAT WERE PACKAGED GOODS, PARTICULARLY THINGS LIKE FRESH MEATS.

>> (BAER) ANOTHER BRAND ORIGINALLY FROM CHICAGO WAS QUAKER OATS.

AND THE FAMILIAR QUAKER WHOSE PICTURE IS ON THE BOX WAS MADE IN CHICAGO TOO.

THE MODEL FOR HIM WAS A CHICAGO ACTOR NAMED JOHN C. BURNS.

THE ARTIST, ALSO FROM CHICAGO, WAS HADDON SUNDBLOM THEY CALLED HIM "SUNNY".

>> AND IT WAS INTERESTING, HE WORKED AS A COMMERCIAL ARTIST, AND HE WAS FAMOUS FOR DOING COCA-COLA ADVERTISEMENTS, KIND OF DEFINING THE JOLLY SANTA CLAUS HE ALSO DID SOME OF THE MOST GORGEOUS PICTURES OF BATHING BEAUTIES AND PIN-UP GIRLS YOU'VE EVER SEEN.

>> (BAER) SUNDBLOM'S LAST COMMISSION WAS THIS COVER OF THE DECEMBER 1972 ISSUE OF PLAYBOY MAGAZINE.

PLAYBOY OF COURSE IS ANOTHER CHICAGO PRODUCT.

HUGH HEFNER CREATED IT AFTER HE QUIT AS A COPYWRITER FOR ESQUIRE MAGAZINE WHEN THEY WOULDN'T GIVE HIM A $5 RAISE.

HEFNER SPECIALIZES IN MALE FANTASIES.

BUT THERE'S A FEMALE FANTASY FIGURE FROM CHICAGO TOO.

LANE TECH DROPOUT JOHNNY WEISSMULLER LANDED THE ROLE OF TARZAN AFTER WINNING FIVE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS FOR SWIMMING IN 1924 AND 1928 AND THEN MODELING SWIMSUITS FOR BVD.

THE MOVIE IS BASED ON THE BOOK THAT EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS WROTE AT HIS HOME IN OAK PARK IN 1912.

NOW TIM, THIS ISN'T JUST ANY ORDINARY KIND OF ENVELOPE; THIS IS A CHICAGO INNOVATION, RIGHT?

>> YES, THE MOST DREADED PIECE OF STATIONARY EVER CREATED, THE WINDOW ENVELOPE.

I MEAN, WHEN YOU GET ONE OF THESE IN THE MAIL, IT'S USUALLY BAD NEWS BECAUSE IT'S A BILL.

BUT YOU CAN THANK A MAN IN 1902 IN CHICAGO WHO PATENTED THIS, AMERICUS CALLAHAN, GREAT NAME.

>> (BAER) THE POST OFFICE MADE MONTGOMERY WARD A RICH MAN.

HE MORE OR LESS INVENTED MAIL ORDER.

WARD'S COMPANY BECAME A MAIL ORDER AND RETAIL GIANT THAT GAVE THE WORLD A TINY REINDEER.

[SINGING] RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER WAS WRITTEN AS A CHRISTMAS PROMOTION BY A YOUNG MONTGOMERY WARDS AD WRITER ROBERT L. MAY IN 1939.

IT WAS PRINTED IN A BOOKLET THAT WARDS GAVE TO MILLIONS OF CHILDREN DURING THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SEASON.

THE FAMILIAR SONG, BASED ON THE STORY, WAS WRITTEN BY MAY'S BROTHER IN LAW, JOHNNY MARKS IN 1949.

[SINGING] GENE AUTRY WAS THE FIRST TO RECORD IT AFTER OTHER BIG NAME SINGERS TURNED IT DOWN.

WITH RUDOLPH'S HELP, SANTA HAS DELIVERED PLENTY OF CHICAGO-MADE TOYS OVER THE YEARS, LIKE TINKER TOYS MADE IN EVANSTON.

>> THE STORY IS THAT THE INSPIRATION CAME FROM THE INVENTOR WATCHING A CHILD PLAYING WITH A SPOOL AND THREAD AND A STICK, AND THAT KIND OF MADE THE AH HAH!

MOMENT TO MAKE THIS GREAT MODULAR TOY.

>> SO, LINCOLN LOGS ARE FROM CHICAGO?

>> SURE, IT'S GOT A LOT OF TIES TO ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO AFTER ALL, IT'S NAMED AFTER ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BUT IT ALSO WAS INVENTED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S SON, JOHN.

>> NO KIDDING!

>> OH YEAH, THIS WAS ONE OF HIS PASSIONS WAS DESIGNING TOYS.

>> (BAER) THE LIST OF CHICAGO CREATIONS GOES ON AND ON...

THE FIRST SKYSCRAPER AT LASALLE AND ADAMS.

THE GAME OF SOFTBALL THE FIRST CONTROLLED NUCLEAR REACTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

THE FIRST BLOOD BANK, AT COOK COUNTY HOSPITAL.

THE FIRST HANDHELD CELLULAR PHONE.

MOTOROLA'S DYNATEC WAS A CHICK MAGNET IN THE 1990S SITCOM "SAVED BY THE BELL."

BUT WE'RE OUT OF TIME SO LET'S END OUR STORY WITH IF NOT THE BEST CHICAGO PRODUCT, CERTAINLY THE ONE THAT'S SAID TO BE THE MOST INDESTRUCTIBLE...

THE TWINKIE.

>> AH, ONE OF THE GREAT CHICAGO STORIES.

JAMES DEWAR, WHO WORKED, STARTING OUT AS A DELIVERY MAN FOR CONTINENTAL BAKERIES AND SOON WORKED HIS WAY UP BECAME A PLANT FOREMAN.

>> (BAER) HE NOTICED THAT THE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MACHINE SAT IDLE WHEN STRAWBERRIES WERE OUT OF SEASON.

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

>> PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THIS WONDERFUL CREAM FILLING INSIDE IS, IN MY LUNCHBOX MANY A TIME.

BUT IF YOU WERE BACK IN 1933 THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BANANA FILLING INSIDE.

ACTUALLY THERE WAS A SHORTAGE OF BANANAS DURING WORLD WAR 2.

AND SO IT WAS CHANGED IT TO A CREAM FILLING AND THAT'S BEEN THE RECIPE EVER SINCE.

GENEROUS SUPPORT IS ALSO PROVIDED BY THE JOSEPH & BESSIE FEINBERG FOUNDATION; THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION, IN MEMORY OF ALYCE DECOSTA; WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM THE HARRIET K. BURNSTEIN & GAND FAMILY; KEN NORGAN; JUDY AND JOHN MCCARTER; PETER KELLIHER JR. AND DIANE KELLIHER AND THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.