The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The first attempt to settle the community took place in 1853, by some residents of Peru, Illinois. However, troops from Fort Kearny forced them to leave because Nebraska Territory belonged to the Otoe tribe. The settlers then temporarily settled across the Missouri River at Sonora. In 1857, a community formed around a trading post called Mount Vernon on the bluffs above the river on the Nebraska side.
In 1857, settlers founded Peru down the hill from Mount Vernon directly on the Missouri River. In 1861, a Methodist school called Mount Vernon Academy opened. In 1867, the school (which became Peru State College) became the state's first normal school.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Start Peru’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Peru’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Peru, decade by decade
2000
LOCArtist Benjamin Victor's nostalgic statue of a football pla…2021
LOCA tree line in December near Peru, Nebraska2021
LOCCampus buildings at Peru State College near Peru, Nebraska2021
CommonsPeru, Nebraska downtown 32011
CommonsPeru, Nebraska downtown 22011
CommonsPeru, Nebraska downtown 12011
CommonsPeruhouse2007
CommonsNEMap-doton-Peru20051 historic place in Peru
1 place in Peru is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.
Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5) and the Library of Congress (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.