The History of St. Rose High School
St. Rose (population approximately 300) is located in far-southwestern Illinois in the northwestern
portion of Clinton County. This small community is situated at the intersection of County Roads 800E and 1800N.
According to www.mapquest.com, St. Rose is about 6 blocks from north to south and 3 blocks from east to west. The town is about 4 miles north of Breese
and 25 miles east of East St. Louis.
An interesting website regarding the history of the town and its catholic heritage can be viewed at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilclint2/misc/strose.htm. This site states that the area of St. Rose (first called Blue Mound) was first settled in 1844.
The number of families grew until it was decided by those in the area that they should establish their own church. Between
1868 and 1870 the St. Rose Catholic Church was built.
By 1881 it was decided to build a school for the children of the parish. The school offered only
grade school courses. This changed in 1929 when a three-year high school was started. It is difficult to determine
if this high school was a catholic high school or public. From viewing the history on the rootweb web page, we
believe that St. Rose High School may have been a catholic high school.
We do not know when, our guess is the late 1940s, but at some point St. Rose High School was closed.
Children then attended either St. Dominic's High School or Breese High School in Breese.
St. Rose is still host to a public school for grades PK - 8. It is unknown if the classes are conducted
in the building that once housed St. Rose High School.
St. Rose High School Quick Facts
Year opened:
1929
Year closed:
late 1940s?
Consolidated to:
Breese Central High School
St. Rose HS team nickname: unavailable
St. Rose HS team colors: unavailable
School Fight Song: unavailable
