RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Portage County >> Peru >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Peru, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Peru and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Peru:
    • 44.569975, -89.243446
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Peru
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Portage County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Portage County
    • Since Peru is near Waupaca County and also Marathon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Waupaca County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marathon County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Peru

Communities Also Named Peru ...

We found 25 communities that are also named Peru.

Within Wisconsin, the name Peru is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of 25 communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these 25 communities, 24 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Randolph County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Peru [Randolph County].
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Peru [Hillsborough County].
    • Illinois
      • La Salle County
      • This Peru is located in La Salle County and lies 223 miles [358.9 km]<3> to the south of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the La Salle County community of Peru.
    • Indiana
      • Miami County
      • This Peru is located in Miami County and lies 308 miles [495.7 km]<3> to the south southeast of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miami County community of Peru.
    • Iowa
      • Madison County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Peru [Madison County].
    • Kansas
      • Allen County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Peru [Allen County].
      • Chautauqua County
      • This Peru is located in Chautauqua County and lies 628 miles [1,010.7 km]<3> to the southwest of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chautauqua County community of Peru.
    • Kentucky
      • Oldham County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Peru [Oldham County].
    • Maine
      • Oxford County
      • This Peru is located in Oxford County and lies 925 miles [1,488.6 km]<3> to the east of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oxford County community of Peru.
    • Massachusetts
      • Berkshire County
      • This Peru is located in Berkshire County and lies 823 miles [1,324.5 km]<3> to the east of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkshire County community of Peru.
    • Michigan
      • Peru #
      • This community is historic<1> and we have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for Peru.
    • Missouri
      • Bates County
      • This Peru is located in Bates County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<3> to the south southwest of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bates County community of Peru.
    • Nebraska
      • Nemaha County
      • This Peru is located in Nemaha County and lies 434 miles [698.5 km]<3> to the southwest of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nemaha County community of Peru.
    • New York
      • Clinton County
      • This Peru is located in Clinton County and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<3> to the east of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clinton County community of Peru.
      • Onondaga County
      • This Peru is located in Onondaga County and lies 646 miles [1,039.6 km] to the east of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Peru.
    • North Carolina
      • Haywood County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Peru [Haywood County].
      • Onslow County
      • This Peru is located in Onslow County and lies 935 miles [1,504.7 km]<3> to the southeast of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onslow County community of Peru.
    • Ohio
      • Hardin County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Hardin County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Peru.
      • Huron County
      • This Peru is located in Huron County and lies 408 miles [656.6 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Huron County community of Peru.
      • Wyandot County
      • This community is historic and although located in Wyandot County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wyandot County community of Peru.
    • Ontario
      • This Peru lies 468 miles [753.2 km]<3> to the east of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Centre County
      • This Peru is located in Centre County and lies 635 miles [1,021.9 km]<3> to the east southeast of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Centre County community of Peru.
    • Vermont
      • Bennington County
      • This Peru is located in Bennington County and lies 817 miles [1,314.8 km]<3> to the east of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bennington County community of Peru.
    • West Virginia
      • Hardy County
      • This Peru is located in Hardy County and lies 655 miles [1,054.1 km]<3> to the southeast of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardy County community of Peru.
    • Wyoming
      • Sweetwater County
      • This Peru is located in Sweetwater County and lies 1,044 miles [1,680.2 km]<3> to the west of the Peru that is located in Portage County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sweetwater County community of Peru.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Peru ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Big Falls
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Big Falls is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Falls
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 69 people
  • Granite City ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Granite City is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite City
  • Granite Quarry ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Granite Quarry is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Quarry
  • Hunting
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hunting is located in Shawano County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting
  • Jordan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jordan is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan
  • Little Waupon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Little Waupon is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Waupon
  • Park Ridge
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Park Ridge is located in Portage County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Ridge
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 496 people
  • Petersville ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Petersville is located in Waupaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersville
  • Shantytown
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Shantytown is located in Marathon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shantytown
  • Split Rock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Split Rock is located in Shawano County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Split Rock

How Far From Peru to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Peru to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Peru and extending to:

  • Stevens Point, which is the Seat of Portage County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Peru to Stevens Point, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 103 miles [165.8 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 739 miles [1,189.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,108 miles [9,829.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,856 miles [11,033.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,752 miles [7,647.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Peru could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>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.
<3>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'.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Peru to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Peru. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.5700, Longitude: -89.2434       In this case, the coordinates for Peru have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.492 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.914 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.593 degrees.