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Breese: A Proud Community
Angie Klein Breese is a small town in southern Illinois. Although farming attracted people to Breese in the 1830s, it was not until the 1850s that the population increased significantly. It is to Sidney Breese's credit that the Illinois Central Railroad was constructed through the area, and Breese is named for him. In 1837 Illinois passed the Internal Improvement Act. It contained plans for the Illinois Central Railroad to be built. The estimated cost was the huge sum of $3.5 million. Corruption and lack of funds curtailed the plans temporarily, but the undertaking was finally completed in 1857. With this new form of transportation, a major change swept across the prairies of Illinois. However, when the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad was built and connected with the Illinois Central, Breese felt the railroads' greatest impact. Settlers from St. Louis and others moving west traveled on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. Upon arrival, they found Breese a farming community comprised mostly of German immigrants. They had begun arriving in the 1830s and were struggling to rebuild their lives in a strange land. Faith played a major role in helping them cope with this transition. Many attended the Catholic church in Hanover, now called Germantown, five miles south of Breese. However, as the population increased, and Breese began to flourish, people wanted their own church in their own town. Land was donated in 1857, and building began immediately. But by 1867 the town was ready for a larger parish. Once again, the Catholics of Breese banded together and built one of the most impressive Catholic churches in the area. The church was named St. Dominic. Because the Catholic faith was so important, St. Dominic's congregation also constructed a school to teach their children the Catholic faith. As St. Dominic was being built, another congregation was forming in Breese. Its members built St. John's Evangelical Church. It consisted of about twenty-five families. By 1912 it became apparent that another Catholic church was needed in Breese. It was decided that since St. Dominic had been built on the north side of the tracks, St. Augustine would be built on the south side. Construction began, and the church, along with a Catholic school, was completed in 1912. But like St. Dominic, St. Augustine's parish kept growing and a larger church was built and officially opened in 1926. Besides the two Catholic schools, a public school was also built. Since enrollment kept growing, two high schools emerged, Breese Public and St. Dominic. In 1954 Mater Dei Catholic High School opened with an enrollment of 223 students. Today it serves more than 600 students in the area. In 1871 Breese had become a town and in 1905 a city. City hall was built in 1885. The Shoal Creek post office had moved to Breese. In 1892 a fire department was organized. The Breese Journal published its first edition in 1920 and remains the only paper in Breese today. A big step in the development of Breese was the addition of St. Joseph's Hospital. Opened in 1898 on donated land, the hospital was built by the St. Dominic congregation and later turned over to the city. It was as unusual then as it is today for such a small town to have a hospital. Today St. Joseph's employs more than three hundred people. Besides the hospital, Breese has many established businesses in the area, including the sixty-year-old Excel Bottling Company, Arrow Group Industries, and Super Valu groceries. General stores, taverns, and beauty salons are interspersed throughout the downtown area. Going to the drive-in, the theater, or the bowling alley is a favorite activity on Friday nights. Breese has grown by leaps and bounds since the first settling of immigrants. The stories and legacies of these pioneers endure. No matter how small Breese is compared to the rest of the world, it is part of living history. It is the history of Breese, and the history of towns like it, that make up much of the history of Illinois and the history of our nation.— [From Breese Historical Committee, Breese Centennial, 1856-1956; Breese Historical Committee, Breese Quasquicentennial, 1856-1981; Howard Brownson, History of the Illinois Central Railroad to 1870; Sisters of Holy Cross Lane, St. Joseph's Hospital.]
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