Peru's downtown is centered around the Miami County Courthouse.
There's a statue memorializing the veterans of WWI next to the Courthouse. I included a closeup of the names in case some family names are recognizeable to my aunt, Mary Ellen
There are many buildings around the Courthouse that look as if they were there in the early 20th century.
This last building is now the Miami County Museum, but it seems that it was originally a clothing store. The museum includes an exhibit about Peru's most famous native. Unfortunately, the museum was closed on Mondays.
We drove East on Main Street towards 380 East Main, the house the Nerenbergs lived in, and passed what is now a newsstand that looked like an original building.
We passed the Library where my Mom claimed to have read all the books. The circulation desk inside is the original one my Mom and her brothers and sister stood at. We should have asked about the story around the backwards sign above the doorway...We found a City Directory from 1919-20 listing William and Freida Nerenberg as proprietors of Progressive Iron & Metal Co. on Wayne, a phone directory from 1922-29 listing William Nerenberg at 380 S. Main, phone Main-1317-R, and the 1928 Peru High Narcissus with Mom's picture (which I will scan and post later).
We also passed an old School across Main Street from the 300 block. It's now apartments, but we couldn't find a date of construction.
Then we took several views of 380 East Main. That big tree in front of the house may have been a small tree when the family moved in 1927-28
And views of the houses to the left, the right and across the street.
Wayne is the next street after the 300 block on Main. The address for Progressive Iron & Metal is now a house next to the train tracks and just 2 blocks from Main
All in all, an interesting trip. We felt connected to Peru which seems to be going though some tough times, although we passed several large, new GM and Chrysler plants around Kokomo, about 20-30 miles away.
