Peru

Peru: Miami County Museum

Peru, city, seat (1834) of Miami county, north-central Indiana, U.S. The city lies on the Wabash River near its juncture with the Mississinewa, midway between South Bend (70 miles [110 km] north) and Indianapolis. Founded in 1829 as Miamisport on the site of a Miami Indian village and renamed in 1834 for the South American country, Peru is now a transportation, industrial, and agricultural trading centre. Its manufactures include electrical and heating equipment, plastics, food, paper, and wood products. Pioneer, circus, and Indian relics are displayed in the Miami County Museum. Songwriter Cole Porter was born and is buried in Peru. The Circus City Festival Museum and the International Circus Hall of Fame commemorate Peru’s former fame as one of the nation’s foremost circus winter quarters. Grissom Air Reserve Base and Mississinewa Lake are nearby. Inc. town, 1848; city, 1867. Pop. (2000) 12,994; (2010) 11,417.