Highlighting nearly forty maps, the maps in this exhibition are organized into three groups. The first group includes maps that capture events, such as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. The second group explores maps as tools for looking at people. Maps can show the life of an individual, such as Abraham Lincoln, or record the activity of an entire community, such as the neighborhood near Hull-House or jazz on the South Side in the 1910s and 1920s.

Lastly, visitors are invited to look at the physical city in unique and thought-provoking ways. Maps in this group explore the city in the past, the present, and even the future, including visions of Chicago as imagined in Daniel Burnham's 1909 plan and the planning maps for the city's 2016 Olympic bid.