Peru, Nebraska

Peru, Nebraska
City
Downtown Peru, 2011
Location of Peru, Nebraska
Coordinates: 40°28′48″N 95°43′53″W / 40.48000°N 95.73139°W / 40.48000; -95.73139Coordinates: 40°28′48″N 95°43′53″W / 40.48000°N 95.73139°W / 40.48000; -95.73139
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
County	Nemaha
Area
• Total	0.53 sq mi (1.37 km2)
• Land	0.53 sq mi (1.37 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	1,083 ft (330 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	865
• Estimate (2012)	848
• Density	1,632.1/sq mi (630.2/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	68421
Area code(s)	402
FIPS code	31-38960
GNIS feature ID	0832047
Website	City website

Peru is a city in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 865 at the 2010 census. Peru State College is located in Peru.

The first attempt to settle the community occurred in 1853 by some residents of Peru, Illinois. However troops from Fort Kearney forced them to leave because Nebraska Territory belonged to the Otoe tribe. They then temporarily settled across the Missouri River at Sonora (now Watson, Missouri). 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.

Floods in the 1860s changed the course of the river pushing it nearly a mile from Peru. An 1867 flood caused the Nebraska community of McKissick Island northeast of Peru to be surrounded by Missouri land and cause a border dispute that would not be resolved until 1999.

Peru is located at 40°28′48″N 95°43′53″W / 40.480055°N 95.731286°W / 40.480055; -95.731286 (40.480055, -95.731286). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.53 square miles (1.37 km²), all of it land.