Freeburg lies in the fertile and rolling southern Illinois plains between the Kaskaskia and Mississippi Rivers.

[3] There were five migratory Native American tribes that crisscrossed each other in Illinois; the Peorias, Cahokias, Kaskaskias, Tamaroas, and Michiganics.

It is said that Turkey Hill to the north of town was a popular Native campground that also attracted many early settlers because of the view it provided of the surrounding countryside.

Attracted by the abundance of coal, the availability of cheap and fertile farmland, as well as the proximity to the frontier city of St. Louis, which was located only 20 miles to the northwest of the area, large-scale German migrations to the area began around 1830 and continued at a consistent rate for the rest of the century.

In the heyday of independent coal mines, as many as 1500 miners lived here, and in 1874, there were 10 hotels for them to choose from if they could not find more permanent lodging.

With the closing of the Peabody River King Mine just east of Freeburg in 1989, coal no longer played a dominant role in the local economy.

[5] After the closure of the large mine in 1989, Peabody donated some 1,800 acres of the 2,000-acre site to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 1994.

[10] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool winters.

Jeanies, a now-demolished cafe on the northern outskirts of the town, was used for the filming of In the Heat of the Night.