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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Peru (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Peru. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Peru is located in La Salle County.

To see how the shape of Illinois' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of La Salle County: Bureau, DeKalb, Grundy, Kendall, Lee, Livingston, Marshall, Putnam & Woodford.

Below are the counties that are near Peru. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Peru:

  • La Salle County     (The home county of Peru)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • La Salle
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oglesby
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • North Utica
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • North Utica is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Utica
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,333 people
    • Utica
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Point
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Deer Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Deer Park is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
    • Waltham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tonica
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Vermilionville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Troy Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Naplate
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Naplate is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naplate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 465 people
    • Triumph
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Leonore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Bureau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Dalzell
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Spring Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Ladd
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherry
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Ottville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Seatonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • De Pue
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • De Pue is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Pue
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,665 people
    • Hollowayville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Arlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Zearing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bureau Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Malden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dover
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • DeKalb County
  • Grundy County
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Sublette
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Radley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Compton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • West Brooklyn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • The Burg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • East Paw Paw
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • East Paw Paw is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Paw Paw
    • Paw Paw
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Inlet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Lee Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Amboy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Livingston County
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Henry
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Evans ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Wenona
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Varna
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Toluca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • La Rose
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Lacon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lacon is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,713 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lacon <1>
    • Sparland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hopewell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Hopewell is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Standard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Granville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Mark
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Palatine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Mount Palatine is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Palatine
    • Hennepin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • McNabb
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Magnolia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Putnam
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Stark County
    • Bradford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Woodford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Minonk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Washburn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Peru, see our County-by-County Page for Peru.

Cemeteries Near Peru ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Peru.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Peru - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Peru covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Peru had a population of 5,550 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Peru had a population of 9,612 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.

  • Spring Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • La Salle
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Oglesby
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Deer Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Deer Park is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Utica
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ladd
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Granville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Dimmick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Dimmick is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dimmick
  • Tonica
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Ticona
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ticona is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ticona
  • Lowell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lowell is located in La Salle County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
  • Vermilionville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Seatonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Troy Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Hollowayville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Hollowayville is located in Bureau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollowayville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Peru. See our List of 1890's Communities around Peru.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Peru ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 181 newspapers that have been published in the area around Peru.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Peru. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Peru and those printed in the larger area surrounding Peru.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4> of Peru.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Peru:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Peru, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Peru) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.