Since the first steamboat Traveler reached Peru in 1831, the city had high hopes of being the western terminus for the Illinois & Michigan Canal.

LaSalle won that designation, but Peru became a busy steamboat port at the head of navigation on the Illinois River.

Captain McCormick was involved in the Five Day Line, making record fast trips between Peru and St. Louis, Missouri.

Senator Gilson reported to land surveyor, Grenville Dodge, that the town would soon outstrip Chicago due to its favorable location along the river and railroads.

[4] Water Street was a thin ribbon pressed between the bluff and the river, leading to the growth eastward of a large industrial district.

Prominent companies from that time included Maze Lumber, Maze Nails, Peru Plow and Wheel Works, Huse and Loomis Ice Co, Brunner Foundry,[7] Star Union Brewery, Hebel Brewery, Illinois Zinc (Peru and LaSalle were sometimes referred to as "Zinc City") and many others.

For example, the Peru Horse and Dummy Railroad was driven to dissolution by the city's impossible mandate that it create a loop from Water Street to the upper bluff.

[4] During World War II the company made mechanical fuses for the government and had more than 600 of its employees enter the armed forces.

Starved Rock State Park, a regional tourist attraction, is located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of the community.

The largest employers in Peru are the Peru Mall, the Illinois Valley Community Hospital, Walmart, James Hardie, Officemax, the American Nickeloid, Liberty Village, Double D Express, Heritage Manor Nursing Home, Eakas, Target, and Horizon Industries.

Maze Co, dealing in lumber and nails, which started the year the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848.

Peru is home to the offices of Carus Chemical Company, started in 1915, today one of the largest manufacturers of potassium permanganate in the world.

[citation needed] Schools serving Peru include:[14] The city operates Illinois Valley Regional Airport.