Pages

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Photos of Saint Augustine Church, in Breese, Illinois

HERE ARE PHOTOS of Saint Augustine Church, in Breese, Illinois. The church is located in Clinton County, about 40 highway miles east of downtown Saint Louis in the Diocese of Belleville. Breese is home to another parish, Saint Dominic.

Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church, in Breese, Illinois, USA

These photos taken on the eve of the first Sunday in Advent.

Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church, in Breese, Illinois, USA - nave

The parish dates from 1912, and this church from 1926.

Breese is located on the great Illinois prairie, and was first settled by Europeans in 1816.  This area was on the Goshen Road, a historically significant and probably ancient path crossing the prairie.  Large number of Germans came here starting in 1835, who devoted themselves to farming.

The town is named after lawyer and politician Sidney Breese, who lobbied for the construction of a railroad linking the Great Lakes and Mississippi Rivers. The railroad came to Breese in 1855, bisecting the newly laid-out town into northside and southside sections. As the population grew after the introduction of rail transport, a new parish was needed on the south side of town, leading to the founding of Saint Augustine.

Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church, in Breese, Illinois, USA - side of nave in dark

Another view of the nave.

Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church, in Breese, Illinois, USA - stained glass window of Saint Clare

Sancta Clara
In memory of Clara G. Meier

Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church, in Breese, Illinois, USA - school

The school building.  The parish is served by the consolidated All Saints Academy.

Click here for photos of other churches in Clinton County.

Address:
525 South Third Street
Breese, Illinois 62230

2 comments:

  1. Simply amazing that the town supports two parishes! Was this area the benefactor of the past 50 years of out migration from St.Louis? Almost 600,000 people had to go somewhere and it seems more and more of them are ending up east of the river.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Be nice to see pictures of this Church's interior when it was first constructed.

    ReplyDelete