LaSalle-Peru, Illinois
County: LaSalle
Location: 1: West side US Business 51, south of
LaSalle. 2: US 6, south of St. Bede Academy
Erected: 04/26/1968 Erected by:
Illinois Department of Transportation and The Illinois State
Historical Society
The story of the twin cities of LaSalle and Peru is closely
interwoven with the history of the Illinois River and the Illinois
and Michigan Canal. In 1673 Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet
passed through this area by way of the Illinois River enroute to Lake
Michigan. The explorer Robert Cavalier, Sieur de LaSalle, also came
through here in 1680 and, in 1682-83, his lieutenant Henri de Tonti
erected Fort St. Louis at Starved Rock to the east, now a state park.
Jolliet first noted the desirability of a canal connecting lake
Michigan to the Mississippi via Illinois. In 1825 the Illinois and
Michigan Canal Association was incorporated and in 1836 the Internal
Improvements Act which included provision for a north-south railroad
through Illinois was passed by the legislature. The convergence of
these important transportation facilities in this area encouraged
further settlement. Peru, organized in 1834, was incorporated in
1838. Activity eventually shifted to LaSalle, since the boat basin of
the canal and the railroad routes were finally located there. Settled
as early as 1830, LaSalle was not incorporated until 1852.
Construction on the canal was begun in 1836 and completed in 1848. It
extended from the Chicago River to LaSalle-Peru and was an important
trade link for thirty years. Two railroads, completed to LaSalle in
the 1850's, eventually replaced the canal in importance, and the
emphasis in the twin cities gradually shifted from transportation to
mining and industry.