36 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
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Meyer's Castle
· 5.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Hold on, you're not in Scotland, you're in Indiana, and you're about to see a real castle! This isn't just any castle; it's Meyer's Castle, built between 1927 and 1931 by Joseph Ernest Meyer, a self-made millionaire and…
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Joshua P. Young House
· 11.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
This unassuming house holds a key to understanding how Blue Island, Illinois, came to be. It was built for a man named Joshua P. Young. In 1852, Young, a land developer, built this house. He wasn't just developing Blue…
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Wolf Lake Culvert
· 11.2 mi
On May 21, 1924, two wealthy University of Chicago students named Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb picked up a fourteen-year-old boy named Bobby Franks as he walked home from school. They drove him across the state line…
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George R. Thorne House
· 12.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine escaping the Chicago heat to a sprawling summer home, built for one of the guys who literally invented mail-order retail. This is the George R. Thorne House. In 1899, George R. Thorne, a co-founder of Montgomery…
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Marktown
· 12.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever imagine stepping back in time to a town built from scratch? That's Marktown. Built in 1917 by the Mark Manufacturing Company, this planned community in East Chicago, Indiana, was designed to house its workers. They…
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Lake County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Nurses Home and Superintendent's House
· 12.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Look out your window! You're approaching a place that once held a terrifying secret, a disease that haunted the nation. This is the Lake County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, built in 1930, a silent witness to a battle…
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Henry and Caroline Schrage House
· 12.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder what it takes to build a city from scratch? This mansion right here is a monument to that kind of ambition. Henry Schrage, a German immigrant and Civil War veteran, didn't just settle in Whiting's Station;…
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Hoosier Theater Building
· 12.9 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Pull over for a sec! This building, the Hoosier Theater, was once the heart of entertainment here, a dazzling beacon in a rapidly changing world. Built in 1924, it hosted everything from hilarious vaudeville acts to the…
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Pullman Historic District
· 13.0 mi · Historical Marker
America's most famous company town, built by George Pullman for his sleeping car workers, and site of the 1894 Pullman Strike.
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Pullman National Historical Park
· 13.2 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder what it'd be like to live in a town completely designed and run by your employer? Here's your chance to find out. Pullman National Historical Park is a preserved example of just that: a company town built by…
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Jackson 5 Family Home
· 14.0 mi · Historical Marker
The small Gary, Indiana house at 2300 Jackson Street where Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 grew up and rehearsed.
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Gary, IN: Named for a Lawyer, Not a Metal
· 14.0 mi
Gary, Indiana is one of the great steel cities, a place built on iron, fire, and molten metal pouring out of enormous mills. So you might assume the name comes from some material, some alloy or metal term. It doesn't.…
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Gary, IN
· 14.0 mi · Local history
Gary, Indiana, owes its very existence to steel. In 1906, U.S. Steel decided to build a massive new plant on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, a location chosen for its access to both iron ore shipped by lake and the…
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Wilbur Wynant House
· 14.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever heard of Frank Lloyd Wright? This unassuming spot in Gary was once home to one of his lost masterpieces. The Wilbur Wynant House, also known as 600 Fillmore, was designed by the legendary architect himself, right…
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American Sheet and Tin Mill Apartment Building
· 14.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Look to your left at the American Sheet and Tin Mill Apartment Building, and you’re seeing one of Gary’s original “Edison Concept Houses.” These weren’t just buildings; they were a bold vision for affordable worker…
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Gary City Center Historic District
· 14.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Witness the rise and fall of a planned industrial city in this historic downtown district. This isn't just any city center; it's the heart of a dream. Back in 1906, U.S. Steel literally built Gary from the ground up,…
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Gary Union Station
· 14.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine the bustling crowds of travelers who once passed through this grand, now-abandoned train station. Gary Union Station opened in 1910, serving multiple railway lines including the Baltimore & Ohio. It was designed…
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Emerson High School (Indiana)
· 15.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Once a thriving high school, this historic building now stands as a reminder of Gary's boom and bust. Look out your window at the imposing structure. Emerson High School was a public high school that opened its doors in…
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Garden Homes Historic District (Chicago)
· 16.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
These aren't your typical Chicago bungalows; they're part of a planned community with a mission. Back in 1919, Chicago was facing a serious housing shortage after World War I. A group of prominent businessmen, including…
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West Chatham Bungalow Historic District
· 16.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Take a look around – you're driving through a slice of Chicago history! This is the West Chatham Bungalow Historic District, a testament to Chicago's booming early 1900s. Between 1913 and 1930, hundreds of these brick…
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South Shore Bungalow Historic District
· 17.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Feast your eyes on a slice of Chicago history defined by its charming, uniform, yet surprisingly individual homes. You're cruising through the South Shore Bungalow Historic District, a collection of over 200 Chicago…
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South Park Manor Historic District
· 17.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder what affordable homeownership looked like in Chicago a century ago? You're driving through it! This is the South Park Manor Historic District, a collection of over 250 Chicago bungalows. Between 1915 and…
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Jeffery–Cyril Historic District
· 17.9 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Check out these apartment buildings; they're a rare example of how Chicago's South Shore neighborhood was developing in the 1920s. Back then, apartments were becoming super popular with middle-class families. South…
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South Shore Cultural Center
· 18.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine Barack and Michelle Obama celebrating their wedding reception right here. This grand building, now the South Shore Cultural Center, was once the exclusive South Shore Country Club. Established in the early…
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Parkway Garden Homes
· 18.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb
This isn't just another apartment complex; Parkway Gardens, also known as O Block, has a story woven into Chicago's hip-hop culture and the city's ongoing struggle with poverty and violence. Built between 1950 and 1955,…
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Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium
· 19.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine Amelia Earhart, a legend in aviation, once graced this very spot! The Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium, originally the Lakefront Park Bathhouse, opened in 1921 as a place for beachgoers to clean up after a day at…
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The Murder Castle Site
· 19.1 mi
At the corner of 63rd and Wallace, on Chicago's South Side, there is now a post office. In 1893, during the World's Columbian Exposition, the three-story building on this lot belonged to a man calling himself H. H.…
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Jackson Park (Chicago)
· 19.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine a park so grand, it once housed a world's fair! That's Jackson Park. Back in 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition, a massive event showcasing inventions, cultures, and architecture. Jackson Park…
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Lorado Taft Midway Studios
· 19.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine some of America's most iconic sculptures being born right here. This is Lorado Taft's Midway Studios. Taft, a prominent sculptor, established his studio here in 1906, transforming existing barns and a Victorian…
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Robie House
· 19.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb
You're approaching a landmark that revolutionized American architecture: the Robie House. Built in 1910 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Frederick Robie, this house is a prime example of the Prairie School style. Robie wanted…
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Frank R. Lillie House
· 19.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder where groundbreaking science happens? Right here, at the Frank R. Lillie House, a National Historic Landmark! Frank R. Lillie, born in 1870, was a major figure in embryology. He lived in this house on the…
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Arthur H. Compton House
· 19.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb
You're passing the former home of a man who helped unlock the secrets of the atom and changed the course of World War II. From 1928 to 1945, this house at 5637 South Woodlawn Avenue was the residence of physicist Arthur…
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Snell–Hitchcock
· 19.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder what it's like to live inside a castle? Well, maybe not a *real* castle, but Snell-Hitchcock comes pretty close! These two Gothic-style residence halls at the University of Chicago, Snell built in 1892 and…
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Hotel Windermere (Chicago)
· 19.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder what it felt like when Chicago showed the world what it could do? You're near the spot where the Hotel Windermere stood, a grand dame built for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This hotel wasn't just a place…
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Chicago Pile-1 - Site of First Nuclear Reaction
· 19.9 mi · Historical Marker
On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi achieved the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in a squash court under the football stands at the University of Chicago.
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Promontory Apartments
· 19.9 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Check out that sleek building! The Promontory Apartments are a major landmark because this skyscraper was the first designed by the influential architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Chicago. The Promontory Apartments, a…