Peru (Indiana)

Peru is a city in, and the county seat of, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,417 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in Miami County. Peru is located along the Wabash River, which divides the city in two.Residents usually pronounce the name of Peru like the name of the nation of Peru is commonly pronounced in American English. Elderly Hoosiers commonly use the archaic pronunciation of.HistoryOn August 18, 1827, Joseph Holman bought land near the confluence of the Mississinewa and Wabash Rivers from Jean Baptiste "Pechewa" (Wildcat) Drouet de Richardville, the chief of the Miami Indians. The sale was approved on March 3, 1828 by President John Quincy Adams. On March 12, 1829, Holman had the land surveyed and laid out into the town of Miamisport.Peru was founded in 1834 by William N. Hood, who had bought 210 acres of land from Miamisport's founder Joseph Holman five years earlier. By 1835, court was being held in Peru rather than Miamisport, and the name "Miamisport" quietly disappeared as Peru became the dominant community in the area. Frances Slocum was reunited with members of her family near Peru in 1837, after nearly sixty years of captivity among Native Americans.