[4] Breese is part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.

The town is named after Sidney Breese, a United States Senator and a contemporary of President Abraham Lincoln.

Even though the area around Breese, Illinois was first settled in 1816, it was not until 1835 that Germans came to the town to farm because of the flat fertile land there.

The Chicago-based company Sanger Kamp & Co. bought 80 acres of land near the railroad.

Their desires were realized when two years later the Sanger Kamp & Co. gave half of one of its 80 acres (32 ha) to the Catholics’ project.

However, things took a turn for the worse when, in 1914, a scarlet fever swept the community and its surrounding area and forced all the schools to close.

The miners killed included Henry Middeke, Herman Scheleper, Walter Schaffner, August Foppe, Frank Zehrer, and Hermann Holtmann.

An investigation concluded that improper filling of an old air shaft caused a dirt slide leading to the collapse.

[7] Breese is located on U.S. Route 50, 40 miles (64 km) east of St. Louis, Missouri.