Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #20 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 433 buildings between them. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1850.
Peru dates its founding to 1834 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Peru is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #20 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Peru’s 402 sits above most of its state (94% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 438 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1883Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Peru’s post office has been open since 1835. Another post office, Miamisport, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Peru.
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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Peru, cut from the printed page as they were published.
To Wm. Brackett, one of the freehold inhabitants of the town of Peru, in said county: In the name of the State of Maine you are hereby required to notify and warn the freeholders and other inhabitants of said town of Peru, qualified by law to vote in town affairs, to assemble at the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Besides the articles designated by the commissioners at the September term, the stone contained a directory of the city of Peru, a list of the officers and members of the Peru Commercial Club, a roster of the Miami county Medical Society, a list of the rural mail routes from the Peru postoffice, four five-dollar national bank bills from the First National Bank of Peru, a ten-dollar national bank bill issued by tlie Citizens National Bank of Peru, an envelope from the contractors contain-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Peru Baptist Church Plantation Number One, from which, in 1821, was incorporated the town of Peru, was settled about the year 1800. Some Baptist families were among tlie early settlers. At the request of these resident Baptists a council was called September 9, 1818, at the house of Benjamin Wormell, for the purpose of cluircli organization. This council consisted of delegates from the Baptist church at Dixfield, and the First and Second Baptist churclies of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
strances were referred to a committee of three — Higgins, Adkinson and Brown — which reported the following ordinance : "Be it ordained by the mayor and common couneil of the town of Peru, that the ordinance entitled 'An ordinance to restrain swine from running at large within the corporation of the town of Peru' and all ordinances amendatory thereto, as also all ordinances or parts of ordinances lending in any maimer to restrain swine from the enjoyment of the lai'gest liberty, be and the same are hereby repealed."
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., Indiana 1868
In the archiveQuaker Bridge, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 6b4e79e8f9f8dd09cbe194a7d91404…
Born hereCole Porter is born here
Born hereOle Olsen is born here
In the archivePeru Indiana street scene birthplace of Cole Porter
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereBob Gibbs is born here
Born herePaul Ray is born here
In the archiveKiss poster4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1868Bird's eye view of the city of Peru, Miami Co., India…1879Quaker Bridge, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - D…
1879Sumner's Mill, Peru, Indiana (approximately 1879) - D…c. 1900Peru Indiana street scene birthplace of Cole Porter
1908Indiana Mfg. Co. Peru, Ind. The old and the new. Old …![Boy at planing machine, Ind[iana] Mfg. Co. Location: Peru, Indiana](https://images.townratings.com/story/4940/7a4173b1dadd72ead0c1-s.jpg)
1908Boy at planing machine, Ind[iana] Mfg. Co. Location: …
1908Indiana Mfg. Co., Boy taking boards away from "double…
1908Indiana Mfg. Co. Peru, Ind. The old and the new. Old …
1908Indiana Mfg. Co., Boy working at circular saw. A numb…
2013Pipe Creek Township, IN, USA - panoramio (2)
2013Pipe Creek Township, IN, USA - panoramio (1)
2013Peru, IN 46970, USA
2013Old Peru High School
2013Mexico, IN, USA
2013Jefferson Township, IN, USA - panoramio (7)
2011Rosewood Mansion in
2011James Omar Cole House
2011Coleportergrave
2011Brownell Block-Senger Dry Goods Company Building
2010Grave of John Mongosia, Chief Francis Godfroy Cemeter…
2007Lady Liberty of
2005Peru-indiana-high-school
2005Peru-indiana-downtownEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Peru. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Peru.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Peru’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,266 and 14,453 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Peru’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1834, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Peru’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1850 counted 1,266 people here.
Peru is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #20 of 593 in Indiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
8 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Brownell Block/Senger Dry Goods Company Building (listed 1983, the first), and 4 historic districts with 433 contributing buildings. 438 historic buildings in all.
49% of Peru’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1942.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (20), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
