Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
The building outlasted the 1893 World's Fair; the German submarine inside it survived capture at sea.
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A Depression-era science museum inside the only permanent structure from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition — built as the Palace of Fine Arts while the other "White City" buildings were primarily temporary. The collection trades on real hardware with real histories: a wartime U-boat hauled up from the Atlantic, the first streamlined diesel-powered passenger train in the US, and a capsule that circled the Moon.
What to look for
- U-505 — the actual Type IXC German submarine seized by the US Navy during World War II
- Pioneer Zephyr — the first streamlined diesel-powered passenger train in the United States
- Apollo 8 command module — the spacecraft that carried the first crew to orbit the Moon
In Jackson Park, Hyde Park — adjacent to the University of Chicago campus and adjacent to Lake Michigan.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Chicago, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Chicago pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Chicago
- Willis TowerIt held the world's tallest title for nearly 25 years after opening in 1973 — and the Skydeck is still the highest observation deck in the United States.
- Art Institute of ChicagoFour paintings you've seen your whole life — Nighthawks, La Grande Jatte, The Old Guitarist, American Gothic — hang in the same building.
- John Hancock Center (875 N Michigan Ave)A moving platform pivots you 30 degrees outward over the Magnificent Mile — 1,128 feet of nothing beneath your feet.
- Aon CenterWhen it opened in 1973 as "Big Stan," this 83-floor tower was the fourth-tallest building on Earth — and clad entirely in marble.
- United CenterThe Bulls hardwood floor is literally assembled over the Blackhawks ice and taken apart game by game — two teams, one frozen surface, shared by puzzle.
- Soldier FieldThe NFL's oldest stadium lost its National Historic Landmark status because of the renovation meant to save it.