Museum Campus: Landfill of Dreams
Everything on this campus stands on ground Chicago manufactured out of a burned-down city. A marble temple holds the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex on Earth, found because somebody got a flat tire. An aquarium a thousand miles from the sea got filled by hauling a million gallons of ocean up from Key West in railroad tank cars. There's the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, a two-thousand-year-old Roman column Mussolini sent as a thank-you gift, and a downtown airport a mayor erased with bulldozers at one in the morning. Walk the lakefront from Buckingham Fountain to Soldier Field. Nearly all of it is documented. A few small things I mixed into the fill myself. See how many seams you can find before I show you.
What You'll Experience
Plan your walk
Know the route before you buy
- Starts at
- Introduction
- Ends at
- The Reveal
- Walking plan
- 47 min · ~2.2 miles
- Schedule
- Start, pause, and resume anytime
Included in the app
- Professional narration
- GPS-triggered stops
- Downloadable tour audio
- Ask the Historian Q&A
- Optional end-of-tour reveal
- All 12 story stops
A taste of what you'll hear
12 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.
"You're standing in Grant Park, on ground Chicago made itself. This started as the burned remains of the city. After the fire of eighteen seventy-one, Chicago shoveled its own wreckage into Lake Michigan."
"The causeway running out toward the planetarium is called Solidarity Drive, and there are three bronze men standing in the median of it. All three were made for somewhere else. All three got moved."
"You started on a lawn made out of a burned city and finished at a war memorial that lost its landmark status for getting a new interior. Six things along the way were mine. Let's sort them out. Start with the ones people refuse to believe."
Tour itinerary
Every stop on this walk
Explore the route before you go. Each stop has its own story preview, location details, and place in the larger tour.
- 11IntroductionYou're standing in Grant Park, on ground Chicago made itself. This started as the burned remains of the city.41.8758, -87.6189 Read this stop
- 22Buckingham FountainThat enormous pink marble wedding cake in front of you is Buckingham Fountain, and every part of it is pointed at the lake on purpose.41.8758, -87.6189 Read this stop
- 33Grant Park — The Fight to Keep It EmptyTurn back toward the skyline and notice what's missing. There's a solid wall of towers along Michigan Avenue, and then, between that wall...41.8677, -87.6199 Read this stop
- 44The Field Museum — A Greek Temple on LandfillThree hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet of white Georgia marble, quarried in the South and shipped a thousand miles north.41.8672, -87.6169 Read this stop
- 55Sue and the Lions of TsavoThe east face of the Field Museum, with the lake at your back. On the other side of that marble is a forty-foot Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue,...41.8661, -87.6155 Read this stop
- 66Shedd Aquarium — They Shipped the OceanThe Shedd Aquarium is a Greek temple covered in seafood. Get close to the trim around the doors and windows and the classical restraint...41.8676, -87.6140 Read this stop
- 77Solidarity DriveThe causeway running out toward the planetarium is called Solidarity Drive, and there are three bronze men standing in the median of it.41.8666, -87.6119 Read this stop
- 88Adler Planetarium — The First Sky in the HemisphereYour brain is going to file the building at the end of this peninsula as a nineteen-thirties idea of a flying saucer. Close enough.41.8663, -87.6072 Read this stop
- 99Northerly Island — The Airport That Was Erased OvernightThe prairie grass ahead of you is a runway. Northerly Island was a working downtown airport until a mayor decided, in the middle of one...41.8607, -87.6083 Read this stop
- 1010The Balbo MonumentA stone column is standing in the grass beside the lakefront path, greenish, about thirteen feet tall, wearing a plaque nobody reads.41.8615, -87.6142 Read this stop
- 1111Soldier FieldThose two long rows of Doric columns are Soldier Field, or at least the part of it that's original.41.8618, -87.6167 Read this stop
- 1212The RevealYou started on a lawn made out of a burned city and finished at a war memorial that lost its landmark status for getting a new interior.41.8618, -87.6167 Read this stop
Stories first
Every stop is built around people, conflict, ambition, and consequences—not a plaque read aloud.
Most of it is true. The extra mischief is just a wink at the end, but the story is what carries the walk.
Have questions? Just ask.
Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.
Ready?
Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.
Get the AppBefore you go
Quick answers
How much is this tour?
$9.99 as a one-time purchase in the iOS app. The Chicago city pack is $14.99 and includes every currently available tour in the city.
Can I use it with spotty cell service?
Download the tour audio on Wi-Fi before leaving. Cached narration plays without streaming; map tiles and other online features may still need a connection.
Do I have to start at a specific time?
No. Start when it suits you, pause for a detour or meal, and resume later. Check the opening hours of any venue you personally plan to enter.
Are admission tickets included?
The purchase covers the Bad Historian audio experience. Transportation, food, and admission to third-party attractions are not included.
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Downtown
The Postcard Tour
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Museum Campus: Landfill of Dreams
$9.99 · one-time