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    Remembrance Day 2008
    Christina R.

    Showmen's Rest is a local tourist attraction in a neighborhood cemetery just outside Chicago. It's actually the final resting place for many circus folk dating back to the early 1900s when a train carrying a circus en route to Hammond, IN crashed and 56 showmen were killed. Elephant statues surround the Showmen's plot just inside the cemetery entrance. Once a year the showmen gather in full regalia and join in " A loving and festive remembrance of their circus brothers past." Yes, that means clowns and circus performers doing what they do best. If you enjoy cemetery trivia, Resurrection Mary's father is also supposedly buried in an adjacent cemetery just north of Woodlawn, and on the other side of Des Plaines Road, you'll find the plots of early twentieth century anarchists and may even run into a Gypsy burial in progress.

    Bee R.

    With the recent awful train wreck in Philadelphia in the news, it was natural that Showmen's Rest and the Hammond Circus train disaster of 1918 came up in news stories as well. This terrible, fascinating story caught my attention and being a morbidly curious person, I couldn't help but check out the memorial site. In June of 1918 a train conductor fell asleep at the wheel, causing his train to plow into the back of the 26 car Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train filled with circus employees and animals. Of the 400 or so on board, about 61 of the total 86 victims of the wreck are buried here at Showmen's Rest (many of them unidentified or only known by their circus names, as seen in the photos). The tribute is tastefully done and very touching to visit, in honor of these poor folks who lost their lives doing what they loved. This site is also an enormous plot dedicated to circus performers that pass away all across the country to this day, with 750 plots on the western side of Woodlawn Cemetery belonging to the Showmen's League of America. The site is a beautiful and touching tribute to the craft, with giant granite elephants in trunks-up salute at the four corners of the land. An enormous elephant statue and dedication marker is located in the center, near where the individual victims' graves are found. The site also hosts the International Clown Week celebration each year in August, a remembrance of circus performance and a celebration of their performances.

    Brandon M.

    With in minutes of The Brookfield Zoo, and Loyola health care, Showmen's rest is a cemetery that Honors Americas Showmen namely circus performers. Once I arrived I realized I had been here before once long ago as a young child. It's memories have continued to stick with me some 25 years later. If you are out and about in the area you should swing by. For the full story and hisotry look down below at Candice's review I could not of put it better myself.

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    Beautiful historic grounds with a particularly poignant tribute at Showmen's rest. Definitely well worth visiting.

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    Review Highlights - Showmen's Rest

    I didn't realize the circus performers who were not part of the accident are also buried here.

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    Trailside Museum of Natural History - Red-bellied Woodpecker at suet feeder

    Trailside Museum of Natural History

    4.7(22 reviews)
    3.0 mi

    The Trailside Museum of Natural History is one of the museums of the Forest Preserve Cook County…read moresystem. This nature museum is fanciest of them all, as it was once a mansion. It's also in a nice area of River Forest. It was established in 1932, in a mansion that dates to 1876. The building itself has an interesting history; after being a residence, it was the site of not one but two different schools before it became the nature museum. The building was acquired by the Forest Preserves in 1919 and was for a time the headquarters of the FPCC. There's a parking lot here and I've also found parking along Thatcher Road on that side of the museum; there is an entrance on both sides. There's a pond near the parking lot for fishing. There are just under 5 miles of trails, and they have a variety of programming here as well. One of their programs is a hybrid program in cooperation with educators, which I think is pretty cool. The first time I was here, it was as a stop on the West Cook Wild Ones native garden tour. I didn't know it--or any of the nature museums of the FPCC--existed before that time. I got some great information from the master naturalist there and now aspire to have a pollinator garden of my own someday. I saw my first hummingbird moth here, many butterflies, and so many birds. And I saw a real live chipmunk for the very first time that was NOT a cartoon! Today I was here for a program called Busy Beavers, and it was really good. There were nearly 20 people that attended. One of them was wearing a Beaver Believer t-shirt, which is a reference to Oregon State University. Funnily, she has no connection to Oregon or OSU; she just likes beaver. I happened to be reppin' my hometown and was wearing my University of Oregon Ducks t-shirt, so I had to get a photo. #goducks #beatthebeavs I learned a lot from the guide, and it was really fun program. I think the hike was probably about a mile to our destination and back. There's another program here called Summer Blossoms which I'm looking forward to attending, and I will be keeping an eye out on the events here so that I can fill up my calendar.

    This place is as charming on the inside as it is outside. It's small for a museum, but we easily…read morespent about an hour and a half there with two young kiddos. The inside has some nature-inspired toys and exhibits, but the outside is the main attraction, in my opinion. On one side, there are a few birds on display (are they being rehabilitated?), and over a dozen hand-painted birdhouses. What we most enjoyed was an awesome outdoor playing area for kids on the other side of the house. My kids loved the jumping stones and the water play area. We'll be back, in warm or cold weather. When it's too icy to play outside, we'll just spend more time playing inside.

    Photos
    Trailside Museum of Natural History - My son playing outside the museum in the play area for kids

    My son playing outside the museum in the play area for kids

    Trailside Museum of Natural History
    Trailside Museum of Natural History

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    Pleasant Home Foundation - Original entrance doors

    Pleasant Home Foundation

    4.1(16 reviews)
    2.6 mi

    Open on Thursdays from 11-4. As of April 2024, they accept a modest entrance of $2 or canned food…read morefor the food pantry per person.

    I visited Chicago this past weekend with some family and friends, and it turned out to be a very…read morearchitecture-heavy trip. We decided to stop by Pleasant Home since we were in Oak Park for a tour of (you guessed it) the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. Pleasant Home was a bit of a disappointment for us, but it was probably partly our fault. I was dragging our group around to look at historic buildings all weekend, and I was a bit worried the two people less interested in architecture were beginning to get bored. When we arrived at Pleasant Home, I saw they offered guided and self-guided tours. Because I was worried a long tour might be the breaking point for two of our group, we opted for the self-guided to keep it a bit shorter. What I didn't realize is that if you do the self-guided tour, you are limited to the bottom floor of the home. You are given a single laminated sheet of paper with the floor plan and some very basic information about the house. On top of that, the bottom floor of the house has no furniture in it (with a couple of exceptions - two tables maybe?). So, while the price for the self-guided tour was reasonable (only $5 per person), you basically have access to five or so rooms with no furniture in them. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. The house is beautiful (although the lighting seemed very low, making the house appear very dark), but I cannot recommend a self-guided tour. If you're interested in the house, pay the extra $5 and arrive on the hour for a guided tour. You'll get to go upstairs and learn more about the house than what is on the laminated floor plan guide. It might be a wonderful guided tour, I can only say that the self-guided tour option is not worth doing.

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    Pleasant Home Foundation
    Pleasant Home Foundation
    Pleasant Home Foundation

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    Chicago Detours - Beyond dates and names of architects, we dig into the ways in which we interact with architecture.

    Chicago Detours

    4.9(273 reviews)
    9.1 miRiver West, Noble Square, West Town

    During Parents' Weekend at the University of Chicago, the university offered tours of the…read moreneighborhood through Chicago Detours. My wife did this tour a couple years ago and highly recommended it, but I wasn't especially interested because I had also gone to school here and figured I knew enough about Hyde Park already. However, she insisted that it would be worth our while and so I agreed to climb on the bus. And it was the absolutely right decision, because the tour was excellent. In fact, it wasn't just a tour of Hyde Park. It included the surrounding neighborhoods of Washington Park, Kenwood, Jackson Park, and Woodlawn. Since this was a UChicago sponsored event much of the information related to the University's investment and involvement in the area. Our tour guide and founder of Chicago Detours, Amanda, is herself a graduate of UChicago and thus she had some additional insight into the relationship with the community. Though the 75-minute tour felt a little slow-going at times, there was much to learn about the vibrant but sometimes troubled history of the area. Amanda has tremendous knowledge and the excursion was both fascinating and entertaining. I can imagine that Chicago Detours would have equally interesting tours of other neighborhoods in this diverse city.

    Virtual tours are such a cool thing to do right now. I attended a Yelp Elite event that was a…read morevirtual food tour of Chicago. It was incredibly informative and a good balance of history and current trends. Looking forward to attending more virtual tours, like the World's Fair and the Cruise From Your Couch Boat Tour. I loved seeing the pictures of the in-person tours and can't wait to attend some of those too.

    Photos
    Chicago Detours - On an architecture tour, you'll venture into spaces many locals don't know

    On an architecture tour, you'll venture into spaces many locals don't know

    Chicago Detours - Enjoy drinks in opulent settings like the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel on the 1893 World's Fair Walking Tour with Bars and Food.

    Enjoy drinks in opulent settings like the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel on the 1893 World's Fair Walking Tour with Bars and Food.

    Chicago Detours - Historic Walking Tour with Bars- drink, learn, eat, explore.

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    Historic Walking Tour with Bars- drink, learn, eat, explore.

    Showmen's Rest - landmarks - Updated May 2026

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