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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Peru Public Library

Peru, Indiana

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Peru.

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10Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1848 to 2025Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

253,054Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Peru, Indiana.

Discover another side of Peru, Indiana through newspapers preserved in the Peru Public Library's digital archive. Its ten titles include material from 1848 to 2025.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    The titles shared by Peru Public Library include “Daily Miami County Sentinel” and “Plain Dealer”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    A familiar name or event takes on another dimension in the newspaper coverage of its time, alongside the stories that mattered to the readers of that issue.

The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Browse ten titles and 253,054 digitized pages, with material from 1848 to 2025. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Peru Public Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

Every search for the past starts with a question. Explore the titles below, follow the sources that speak to it, and see what new detail appears.

Daily Miami County Sentinel

234 pages in 1854

Miami County Record

852 pages from 1895 to 1897

Miami County Sentinel

34,460 pages from 1848 to 1915

Peru Daily Chronicle

96,156 pages from 1897 to 1924

Peru Daily Tribune

16 pages in 1921

Peru Morning Chronicle

11,106 pages from 1924 to 1926

Peru Republican

79,966 pages from 1868 to 1965

Peru Tribune

11,780 pages from 2020 to 2024

Plain Dealer

3,660 pages from 2024 to 2025

The Sentinel

14,824 pages from 1915 to 1925

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About the Archive

About the Peru Public Library’s Digital Archives

The Peru Public Library offers free and open access to its digitized collection of historical newspapers, vital records, and local documents, providing an invaluable educational resource for researchers, genealogists, and community members interested in exploring Peru, Indiana's collective history. In partnership with Advantage Archives , the library has digitized a significant number of pages spanning from the 19th century to the present. This initiative underscores a shared responsibility to preserve and make accessible the firsthand accounts and perspectives that document history as it happened.

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About the Library

About the Peru Public Library

Located at 102 East Main Street in Peru, Indiana, the Peru Public Library is dedicated to serving the informational and educational needs of the community. The library provides a welcoming space for reading, research, and community events, reflecting its commitment to greater access to historical content. Through partnerships and outreach, the library continues to engage the community in preserving and discovering local history.

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Library History

The History of the Peru Public Library

Established in the early 20th century, the Peru Public Library has evolved to meet the growing needs of the community. The library's commitment to preserving local history is evident in its ongoing digitization projects and community outreach programs. Learn more about the library .

About the Community

About Peru, Indiana

Peru, located in Miami County, Indiana, is a city rich in history and cultural heritage. Founded in 1834, Peru has a population of approximately 11,073 residents as of the 2020 census. The city is known as the "Circus Capital of the World" due to its historical association with circuses and is situated along the Wabash River. Learn more about Peru .

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Local History

Did You Know?

The Peru Public Library's digital archives include a wealth of resources for genealogists and historians, such as:

  • Historic Newspapers detailing local events and developments
  • Vital Records including birth, marriage, and death records
  • Obituaries providing personal accounts of life in Peru
  • Census Records offering insights into the population and demographics of the area

These resources provide a comprehensive view of the city's development and are invaluable for anyone researching the area's past. Explore the Digital Archives .

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More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Keep publication context with a finding

The history of Peru includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Peru Public Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Note the newspaper title, issue date, and page for a useful report. Compare another account where available, and keep differences in timing or perspective visible rather than blending them into a single version.

Save the newspaper title, issue date, and page, then compare another dated account where available. Keep differences in timing and perspective visible so the source context is not lost. If the accounts disagree, record what each source supports and use the difference to shape a further search rather than smoothing them into one version.

A research trail is most useful when it leaves room for what is not yet known. Record the title, date, and page or item reference where available, along with what remains uncertain and which question you want to follow next. Those details help keep a possible connection from becoming an unsupported conclusion.

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Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Peru Public Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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