Unusual museums in Chicago

Looking for unusual museums & collections in Chicago? These 9 are the genuinely strange ones — Intuit Art Museum (Henry Darger Room), Chicago Fed Money Museum, Sanfilippo Place de la Musique and more — each hand-vetted and sourced, not pulled from a top-ten list. Great for an unusual date, a weird afternoon, or showing a visitor the side of Chicago they'd never find on their own.

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Intuit Art Museum (Henry Darger Room) After a $10 million renovation, this museum dedicated to self-taught and outsider art reopened in May 2025 ac… West Town
Chicago Fed Money Museum On the ground floor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, this free single-subject museum is entirely about… The Loop
Sanfilippo Place de la Musique Snack-food magnate Jasper Sanfilippo (of Fisher Nuts) spent over 30 years assembling what is widely called th… Barrington Hills
Oakland Museum & Garden Self-taught sculptor Milton Mizenburg Jr. spent over two decades carving tree stumps and salvaged wood into t… Bronzeville (Oakland)
National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture Housed in the historic Humboldt Park stables at the western gateway of Paseo Boricua, this is the only freest… Humboldt Park
WNDR Museum A walk-through immersive museum of 20-plus interactive installations blending art, light, and technology in t… West Loop
American Giants Museum & Bunyon's Hot Dog Giant This small Route 66 museum is devoted entirely to the 1960s-70s 'Muffler Men' fiberglass giants, with restore… Atlanta
Volo Museum What started as a 1960s collector-car dealership has sprawled into a 35-acre warren where Hollywood movie car… Volo, IL
House on the Rock Alex Jordan's house perched atop a chimney of rock unfolds into one of the strangest attractions in America:… Spring Green, WI