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26-467: Scherzer's parents were William and Wilhelmina Scherzer, who immigrated from Germany in 1847. Scherzer was born in Peru, Illinois , on January 27, 1858, as the second son in a family of three sons and one daughter. Scherzer received his primary education in public schools. He exhibited talent in art and mathematics, where his father had exhibited talent in music and art. After elementary school Scherzer entered

52-494: A plank road , northwest of town, a toll road meant to reach Dixon, Illinois . 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. In 1884, Stahlberg started

78-511: A consulting and contracting engineer. Scherzer was the inventor of a refinement of the bascule bridge called the Scherzer rolling lift bridge. His last engineering work before he died, done in 1893, was the design of two of these rolling lift bridges in Chicago. His design pivots the bridge like a rocking horse. The friction is lowered because it is rolling friction. Moreover when the bridge

104-450: 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. During World War II the company made mechanical fuses for the government and had more than 600 of its employees enter

130-581: Is also home to the Westclox Museum. The building caught fire on July 14, 2023. As of 2021, Peru has a total area of 10.12 square miles (26.21 km ), of which 9.986 square miles (25.86 km ) (or 98.68%) is land and 0.134 square miles (0.35 km ) (or 1.32%) is water. Located on the Illinois River, Peru lies 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the intersection of two major interstate highways: Interstate 39 and Interstate 80 . The city

156-514: Is also the western terminus of the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal . Before the Illinois Waterway was constructed, the Illinois River was navigable only up to Peru. Starved Rock State Park , a regional tourist attraction, is located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of the community. Peru has a twin city on its eastern edge, LaSalle . As of the 2020 census there were 9,896 people, 4,482 households, and 2,760 families residing in

182-738: Is at the intersection of I-80 and IL-251 . Then there are three smaller districts along the US-6 Corridor, including Peru's downtown. The largest employers in Peru are the Peru Mall , the Illinois Valley Community Hospital, Walmart , James Hardie , Officemax , the American Nickeloid, Liberty Village, Double D Express, Heritage Manor Nursing Home, Eakas, Target , and Horizon Industries . Peru

208-400: Is open the channel is completely free as the mechanism has rolled away the bridge from the edge leaving the passage free for wide traffic. The first rolling lift bridge ever built was the 1895-opened Van Buren Street Bridge (long since replaced by a newer bridge of a non-rolling bascule type) in the city of Chicago and was patented by Scherzer. The second rolling lift bridge constructed spanned

234-481: Is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area . Peru and its twin city, LaSalle , make up the core of Illinois Valley. 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, and incorporated as a city on March 13, 1851. The original plat was between West Street, 4th Street, and East Street (now Pine Street). Since

260-500: Is the home of at least three very old companies. It is the national headquarters of American Nickeloid, started in 1898, and the W.H. Maze Co, dealing in lumber and nails, which started the year the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. Maze Nails is one of America's last remaining nail makers. Peru is home to the offices of Carus Chemical Company, started in 1915, today one of the largest manufacturers of potassium permanganate in

286-581: The Chicago River between Jackson and Van Buren Streets. These bridge projects were for the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company. The timing of Scherzer's unique design could not have been better. Railroads were being built with bridges needed to cross rivers in dense urban sites. His patented method made it possible for a bridge to accommodate a change of grade. In 1908 his contribution

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312-556: 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

338-611: 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

364-493: 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, 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

390-402: The city was $ 52,635, and the median income for a family was $ 73,477. Males had a median income of $ 50,645 versus $ 24,706 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 34,268. About 6.3% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line , including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over. There are a number of business districts in Peru. The largest

416-429: The city. The population density was 977.87 inhabitants per square mile (377.56/km ). There were 4,825 housing units at an average density of 476.78 per square mile (184.09/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 86.86% White , 1.31% African American , 0.21% Native American , 1.75% Asian , 0.03% Pacific Islander , 2.68% from other races , and 7.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.43% of

442-459: The fever on July 20, 1893, at the age of thirty-five in Chicago. His father, William Scherzer Senior, died at the age of forty-one. [REDACTED] Media related to William Scherzer at Wikimedia Commons Peru, Illinois Peru is a city in LaSalle and Bureau counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,896 at the 2020 census , down from 10,295 at the 2010 census . It

468-690: The first steamboat Traveler reached Peru in 1831, the city had high hopes of being the western terminus for the Illinois & Michigan Canal . 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

494-399: The population. There were 4,482 households, out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.81% were married couples living together, 10.95% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.42% were non-families. 34.65% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

520-649: The position of engineer for three years at the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company at La Salle, Illinois . In 1883 he was employed by the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company. He took up the specialty field of bridge engineering. Scherzer in 1885 was employed as the assistant to the chief engineer of the Keystone Bridge Company of Chicago. He was there for eight years. Scherzer entered into business for himself in 1893 in Chicago as

546-615: The private schooling of Professor Eggers at the age of 15 for college prep courses. He later then took up civil engineering at the Polytechnicum college in Zurich, Switzerland when he was eighteen years old. There he was at the top of his class. Scherzer was considered a competitor both in play and studies by all that knew him closely. He graduated from the Zurich engineering college in 1880. Scherzer returned to America in 1880 and took

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572-548: The town would soon outstrip Chicago due to its favorable location along the river and railroads. 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, were

598-548: The world for the passage of the largest vessels of commerce. 1893 Lift bridge patent – Because of Scherzer's early demise, his brother took over the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company and derived fourteen additional related patents pertaining to rolling lift bridges and built 175 of these type bridges nationwide by 1916. Scherzer never married. He suffered a year with typhoid fever which brought an attack of brain fever . Scherzer died from

624-688: The world. In 2021, the DuPage Pistol Shrimp baseball team relocated from Lisle, Illinois to Peru, becoming the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp . The Pistol Shrimp are a member of the collegiate Prospect League . Schools serving Peru include: The city operates Illinois Valley Regional Airport . Illinois %26 Michigan Canal Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

650-401: Was 2.64 and the average family size was 2.12. The city's age distribution consisted of 19.5% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 21.1% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 26.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males. The median income for a household in

676-408: Was recognized: William Scherzer [was] the inventor and patentee of what is acknowledged to be one of the most useful mechanisms of the generation. [His] invention has been of great benefit in the advancement of commerce and civilization. [Scherzer’s contribution] has facilitated and made possible the opening and development of the great rivers, canals and waterways throughout

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