Editing Peru, Illinois (section)

===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.