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History · Peru Township

Peru Township dates to 1834, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

8 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1868 on and old-book passages.

1834founded
8on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Peru Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Peru Township began

When was Peru Township founded?

1834

Peru Township dates its founding to 1834 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). Its post office opened in 1829.

2020 census: 10,638192 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓

What stands out about Peru Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Peru Township’s homes were built before 1938.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.Deep rootsEstablished in 1834: 192 years of Peru Township.
★ What stands out · The story

How Peru Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Peru Township.

Read it all →

On August 18, 1827, Joseph Holman bought land near the confluence of the Mississinewa and Wabash rivers from Jean Baptiste "Pechewa" (Wildcat) Drouet de Richardville, the chief of the Miami people. The sale was approved on March 3, 1828, by President John Quincy Adams. On March 12, 1829, Holman had the land surveyed and laid out the town of Miamisport.

ChaptersCircuses

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the National Register

8 listings protect 438 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
438
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Peru Township, 1834 to 1974

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834
    FoundingPeru Township is established
  3. 1868In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., Indiana 1868
  4. 1879In the archiveQuaker Bridge, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 6b4e79e8f9f8dd09cbe194a7d91404…
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archivePeru Indiana street scene birthplace of Cole Porter
  7. 1974In the archiveKiss poster
From the old history books

What they wrote about Peru Township, 1887–1914

Passages that mention Peru Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Blnck Havjh and Eric Tozviis/iips. — On a petition of the inhabitants of the eastern porton of Peru Township, the following described territory was organized into the first named township: All that portion of the territor}' of Peru Township lying east of the recently established Range line and enti…
History of Miami County, Indiana, from the earliest time to the present1887 · page 277Read the page →
Read the text

Blnck Havjh and Eric Tozviis/iips. — On a petition of the inhabitants of the eastern porton of Peru Township, the following described territory was organized into the first named township: All that portion of the territor}' of Peru Township lying east of the recently established Range line and entireh' east of the Wabash County line, form and constitute said new township. Two years later, September 1847, the name of said Black Hawk Township, was changed to that of Erie.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
schools, 138; railroads, 138; cemeteries, 379 Perrysburg, 198 Peru Township, location, 138; organized, 139; area, 139; railroads, 139; first school, 139; schools, 139; cemeteries.
History of Miami County, Indiana1914Read the page →
Read the text

schools, 138; railroads, 138; cemeteries, 379 Perrysburg, 198 Peru Township, location, 138; organized, 139; area, 139; railroads, 139; first school, 139; schools, 139; cemeteries.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Peru Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s5 items
Bird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., Indiana 18681868Bird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., India…Quaker Bridge, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 6b4e79e8f9f8dd09cbe194a7d914048f1879Quaker Bridge, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - D…Sumner's Mill, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 2a4e2c2cca283a8d57e8bca174eda02d1879Sumner's Mill, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - D…Peru Indiana street scene birthplace of Cole Porterc. 1900Peru Indiana street scene birthplace of Cole PorterIndiana Mfg. Co. Peru, Ind. The old and the new. Old man has been there 33 years. Boy starting in, working with a board…1908Indiana Mfg. Co. Peru, Ind. The old and the new. Old …
1910s–1960snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1970s1 item
Kiss poster1974Kiss poster
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., Indiana 1868
Retake this viewBird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., Indiana 1868, 1868

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Peru Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Hidden Hills
Gone or out of use
Benner FieldairportKickapoo Stone Quarrymine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Peru Township
BowmanMount HopeShrock

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Peru Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBird's eye view of the city of Peru, Mi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Pipe Creek Township2 historic placesB+Washington TownshipIts storyC+Jefferson TownshipIts storyB+Butler Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPeru8 historic placesA+Miami TownshipIts storyCErie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTipton Township1 historic placeARichland Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Peru Township’s history

What year was Peru Township founded?

In 1834, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Peru Township’s post office opened in 1829.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.