[5] Peru is located along the Wabash River and is part of the Kokomo-Peru Combined Statistical Area.

[citation needed] On 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 people.

[6] Peru was founded in 1834 by William N. Hood, who had bought 210 acres (85 hectares) of land from Miamisport's founder Joseph Holman five years earlier.

[6] Frances Slocum was reunited with members of her family near Peru in 1837, after nearly sixty years of living among Native Americans.

Before the flood of 1913, Peru was a busy town, full of activity and jobs, with 15,000 inhabitants, 100 factories, a trolley service, railroads, a new hospital (Duke's), a circus (which employed 1,000 people on the road), and a new concrete bridge (largest of its kind in the world at the time).

Public enemy John Dillinger and his gang robbed the Peru police department armory on October 21, 1933.

They acquired one Thompson submachine gun, two Winchester rifles, two shotguns, four .38 revolvers and a half-dozen bulletproof vests.

After receiving a ransom of $502,500, he jumped out of the back of the Boeing 727 in what was the ninth copycat hijacking in the style of D. B. Cooper.

[9] The money was found in a 45-pound (20 kg) sealed canvas mail bag by local farmer Lowell Elliott while he was working in his soybean field.

Another farmer, Ronald Miller, discovered a Spitfire submachine gun in his corn field when a blade hit it while applying liquid nitrogen fertilizer.

The Brownell Block/Senger Dry Goods Company Building, James Omar Cole House, Miami County Courthouse, Peru High School Historic District, and Shirk-Edwards House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[11] Peru was the winter headquarters for several famous circuses, including Hagenbeck–Wallace, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and others.

Mariya Rasputina, daughter of Grigori Rasputin, was mauled by a bear in Peru while working for the Hagenback-Wallace Circus, but survived.

[1] The Wabash River flows east to west through the city, south of the downtown area.

The Mississinewa River joins the Wabash 1 mile (1.6 km) east (upstream) of the city limits.

The Peru city limits extend north as far as U.S. 24 and then west along that highway as far as its interchange with U.S.

Peru Municipal Airport, operated by the city, is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) to the northwest of downtown.