Editing Peru, Illinois (section)

==History==
The city's first settler was John Hays, who arrived in 1830. The city was organized as a borough in 1838, incorporated as a village February 25, 1845,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/ipub11.pdf// |title=Illinois Counties and Incorporated Municipalities |publisher=Illinois Secretary of State |date=2012-07-01 |website=Office of the Illinois Secretary of State-Publications/Forms |access-date=2021-11-03}}</ref> and incorporated as a city on March 13, 1851. The original plat was between West Street, 4th Street, and East Street (now Pine Street).

===River City (1831–1933)===
[[File:Peru, Illinois (circa 1900).jpg|thumb|left|Peru, circa 1900]]
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, Illinois|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Maze|first=Nancy|title=Tales and Pictures of Peru: Peru's 150th Anniversary|publisher=Letterkraft Printers Inc|year=1985|location=Peru, Illinois}}</ref>

Water Street was a thin ribbon pressed between the bluff and the river, leading to the growth eastward of a large industrial district. Developed along the river and the canal, it was served by the [[Rock Island Railroad]] and Chicago Burlington and Quincy. These important transportation routes, along with coal mining in at least four mines lasting from 1857 until 1949,<ref name="isgs">[http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/coal-maps/topo-mines/lasalle.pdf]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614032303/http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/coal-maps/topo-mines/lasalle.pdf|date=June 14, 2010}}</ref><ref name="isgs1">[http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/coal-maps/topo-mines/spring-valley.pdf]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613175310/http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/coal-maps/topo-mines/spring-valley.pdf|date=June 13, 2010}}</ref> were the basis for Peru's rise to an industrial center. Many entrepreneurs grew into prominent businessmen and advanced the interests of Peru and the region. Prominent companies from that time included Maze Lumber, Maze Nails, Peru Plow and Wheel Works, Huse and Loomis Ice Co, Brunner Foundry,<ref>[http://genealogytrails.com/ill/lasalle/Photos/Peru/nadlerHome.html Details], genealogytrails.com; accessed October 31, 2015.</ref> Star Union Brewery, Hebel Brewery, Illinois Zinc (Peru and LaSalle were sometimes referred to as "Zinc City") and many others. Peru's citizens were intent on improving their town, so far as constructing a [[plank road]], northwest of town, a toll road meant to reach [[Dixon, Illinois]].<ref name=":0" />

Peru's story became a story of two levels. The story of Water Street and the bottoms, and the town growing above the bluff. Peru tried hard to link the two. 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.

===Clock City (1884–1980)===
[[File:Westclox Peru front 2007.jpg|thumb|left|Westclox Building]]

In 1884, Stahlberg started the United Clock Company in Peru. Shortly afterward, it went bankrupt and was reorganized with the help of [[Frederick William Matthiessen]] as the Western Clock Company. By 1905 it had grown into a national company, producing over 1 million alarm clocks per year. In 1909, they trademarked "[[Westclox]]". In 1917 they became a model for workers' benefits, one of the early companies to pay life insurance and have a safety committee. Later on, they limited the work week, constructed a company park with a tennis court and horseshoe courts, developed workers' housing, and established a school for watchmakers with provision for scholarships. In 1935 it was the safest company in the nation, with 11 million hours without a lost time accident.<ref name=":0" />

During World War II the company made mechanical fuses for the government and had more than 600 of its employees enter the armed forces.  At its height it manufactured nearly 2 million clocks and watches annually and employed over 4,000 persons. It closed the Peru factory in 1980; the loss of jobs caused a rapid decline in population in LaSalle and Peru.

Today the old Westclox Administration Building is now the headquarter for the Carus Corporation and the rest of the Westclox complex is being redeveloped into a commercial center. The building is also home to the Westclox Museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=About |url=http://www.westcloxmuseum.com/about |website=Westclox Museum |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref> The building caught fire on July 14, 2023.