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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Peru ...

The city of Peru is located in La Salle County<1>.

The pronunciation of Peru: puh-ROO<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Peru, you might consider that their post office opened in 1848.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Peru has a population of 9,718 people<3> (see below for details).

Peru is 630 feet [192 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Peru lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Peru: 815 & 779<5>

The ZIP code for Peru: 61354<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Peru had an population of 9,718 people. This is a decrease of 5.6% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 1.19% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Peru had a population of 10,295 people (which is 9.04% of the total population of La Salle County). This makes Peru the county's 3rd most populous community.

The population of Peru represents 0.08% of the total population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 218th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 10,295 people, the population of Peru increased 4.68% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 9,835 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Peru.

Communities Also Named Peru ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 25 communities that are also named Peru - they are located in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York (2), North Carolina (2), Ohio (3), Ontario, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Peru.

Communities near Peru ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Peru.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Peru. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Peru.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Peru. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Peru.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Peru. Our list includes 29 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Peru.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Peru ...

Looking for more information about Peru? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Peru, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Peru.

Adding Peru to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Peru in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Peru was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Peru post office opened in 1848.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Peru.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including La Salle, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Peru. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Peru.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Peru - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Peru area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Peru area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Peru). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Peru or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/