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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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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 Nemaha County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Nemaha County: Atchison (MO), Holt (MO), Johnson, Otoe, Pawnee & Richardson.

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:

  • Nemaha County     (The home county of Peru)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Brownville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Julian
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Auburn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Auburn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
      • Auburn is located in Nemaha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,342 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Auburn <1>
    • Nemaha
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Howe
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Rohrs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Brock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Johnson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
      • Johnson is located in Nemaha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnson <1>
    • Saint Deroin ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Saint Deroin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Deroin
      • Saint Deroin is located in Nemaha County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Saint Deroin
      • From Peru to Saint Deroin
  • Cass County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Union
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Nehawka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Avoca
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avoca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
      • Avoca is located in Cass County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avoca <1>
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Graf ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Graf. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graf
      • Graf is located in Johnson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Graf
      • From Peru to Graf
    • Cook
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook
      • Cook is located in Johnson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cook <1>
    • Elk Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Tecumseh
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Saint Mary
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Otoe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Nebraska City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Talmage
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Lorton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Dunbar
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunbar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbar
      • Dunbar is located in Otoe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 192 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunbar <1>
    • Wyoming
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Otoe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otoe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otoe
      • Otoe is located in Otoe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 177 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Otoe <1>
    • Syracuse
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Burr
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burr have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr
      • Burr is located in Otoe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 59 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burr <1>
  • Pawnee County
  • Richardson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Shubert
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Stella
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Barada
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Verdon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Dawson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Humboldt
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Straussville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Arago ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arago. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arago
      • Arago is located in Richardson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arago
      • From Peru to Arago
    • Salem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Falls City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falls City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
      • Falls City is located in Richardson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,076 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falls City <1>
    • Nim City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nim City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nim City
      • Nim City is located in Richardson County
  • Fremont County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Hamburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hamburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
      • Hamburg is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,041 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamburg <1>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hamburg
      • From Peru to Hamburg
    • Payne
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Payne. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne
      • Payne is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Payne
      • From Peru to Payne
    • High Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for High Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Creek
      • High Creek is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to High Creek
      • From Peru to High Creek
    • Riverton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
      • Riverton is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverton <1>
    • Percival
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Percival have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Percival
      • Percival is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Percival <1>
    • Sidney
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Farragut
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farragut have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farragut
      • Farragut is located in Fremont County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 437 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farragut <1>
    • Anderson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • McPaul
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Thurman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Bartlett
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Randolph
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Tabor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Page County (IA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Northboro
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Shenandoah
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shenandoah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah
      • Shenandoah is located in Page County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,783 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shenandoah <1>
    • Blanchard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanchard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchard
      • Blanchard is located in Page County (IA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 36 people
    • Coin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Atchison County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Watson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Phelps City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phelps City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps City
      • Phelps City is located in Atchison County (MO)
    • Rock Port
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Farmers City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmers City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers City
      • Farmers City is located in Atchison County (MO)
    • Tarkio
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Fairfax
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfax have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
      • Fairfax is located in Atchison County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 568 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairfax <1>
    • Westboro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westboro
      • Westboro is located in Atchison County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
  • Holt County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Peru, with the one closest to Peru listed first.
    • Corning
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Corning. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
      • Corning is located in Holt County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Corning
      • From Peru to Corning
    • Craig
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Peru had a population of 624 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Peru had a population of 792 people.

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

  • Watson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Brownville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Julian
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Glenrock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenrock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenrock
    • Glenrock is located in Nemaha County
  • Auburn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Auburn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
    • Auburn is located in Nemaha County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,342 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Auburn <1>
  • Minersville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
    • Minersville is located in Otoe County
  • Phelps City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phelps City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps City
    • Phelps City is located in Atchison County (MO)
  • Hamburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hamburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
    • Hamburg is located in Fremont County (IA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,041 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hamburg <1>
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hamburg
    • From Peru to Hamburg
  • Nemaha
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Howe
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Langdon ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Langdon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
    • Langdon is located in Atchison County (MO)
  • Paul
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paul have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paul
    • Paul is located in Otoe County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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 259 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 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> 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 websites either 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:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Peru. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Nebraska: https://www.nebraska.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Peru) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Peru. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.4796, Longitude: -95.7306    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025