schools to close. Only four years later, still in the wake of the scarlet fever, the flu epidemic spread through the area. After the diseases ended, further improvements to the city were made and are still occurring. 1906 Coal mine disaster On December 24, 1906, Six miners were killed and one injured when a mine cage collapsed and fell down the shaft in a mine owned and operated by The Breese and Trenton Coal Company. The miners killed included Henry Middeke, Herman Scheleper, Walter Schaffner, August Foppe, Frank Zehrer, and Hermann Holtmann. The only one injured was mine manager William Fritz. An investigation concluded that improper filling of an old air shaft caused a dirt slide leading to the collapse. The Breese and Trenton Coal Company was found guilty of negligence. Geography Breese is located at (38.610317, -89.526705). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Breese has a total area of , of which (or 99.07%) is land and (or 0.93%) is water. Breese is located on U.S. Route 50, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 4,641 people, 1,861 households, and 1,116 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,038 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.30% White, 0.24% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 2.84% from other races, and 3.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.37% of the population. There were 1,861 households, out of which 46.37% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.24% were married couples living together, 6.39% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.03% were non-families. 33.91% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.27% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 2.19. The city's age distribution consisted of 21.0% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $70,411, and the median income