In the summer of 1877, when the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company was laying a branch line to Mapleton, the chief surveyor at first entertained the idea of establishing a station on a piece of land owned by Mr. Chas. Krenzien, a mile north of Breda. He changed his plan, however, and moved the location to approximately the middle of sections 7 and 18 in Kniest Township, and sections 12 and 13 in Wheatland Township. A parcel of 177 acres was purchased from the settlers C. Knobbe, B. Schettler, H. Ruetter, and W. Arts.

     Various suggestions were made concerning how the newly formed town should be named. The names “St. Clemens” and “Artsville” were especially mentioned. Superintendent Hall and his workers were lodging with Mr. John Le Duc and in an obliging moment, as thanks for their good room and board, he granted to Mrs. Le Duc the right to give a fitting name to the new station. She first came up with “New Holland,” and then “Roemond,” but the names had to be declined because towns with similar names already existed in the state. As a true Dutch woman, she then insisted on the name “Breda,” after a fortress town in the Dutch province of Nordbraband a. d. Mark. Since there were no problems with this name, it was taken as the name for the station, and so that is what the town is still called today and probably will be forever. So, thus the towns-woman Mrs. Hendrina Le Duc had the honor of giving the town its name. In the summer of 1878, a certain Mr. Simpson established a lumberyard, Wm. Arts built the first grain elevator and merchandise store, and Joseph Manemann was the grain and livestock buyer. From 1878 to 1881, John Parsons was the first crew foreman, and Mrs. Parsons was the telegraph operator. Fitch and Wade built the first merchandise store, Ricke and Olerich the first hardware store, H. Koenig was the first blacksmith, Chas. Forst was the first wagon maker, Theo. Loch was the shoemaker, J. Beck was the harness maker, Dr. U. C. Jones was the physician, Joseph Schelle was the furniture dealer, H. Knobbe was the innkeeper [or tavern keeper], J. Le Duc was the hotel keeper, A. Zurn was the first carpenter, Fritz Salmen was the butcher, H. Wilmers was the teacher, C. Knobbe was the postmaster, Rev. J. Norton was the clergyman, and so forth. In 1879, several business buildings burned down, but were rebuilt. In the first years, C. Bruening also started a business, H. Federspiel was the second blacksmith, W. Eschelbacher and H. Bueter , as well as H. Runkel were innkeepers [or tavern keepers]. C. and B. Bruening purchased Simpson’s lumberyard, Lammerding and Meyer became the grain buyers, and D. Joyce founded a lumber business. From then until now, much has come to pass. Many have come, and again disappeared.

     On 17 June 1888, the corner stone was laid for the new church. On 7 September 1897 and on 6 April 1898, large fires almost destroyed the entire business district, but at present it has been built up again with excellent buildings. About 425 residents live in the town, and it is a good market place to which farmers come from far and wide. The residents are almost entirely German descendants who speak in their native language, except for 19 residents who speak English and 11 who speak Dutch. According to religion, they are Catholic except for several families of various other denominations. In 1890, the “Breda Watchman” was founded by J. J. McMahon, and the city hall was built. The town was incorporated in 1885, with F. Salmen as the first mayor. At first, there were just six blocks, and now there are twelve blocks with various additions.

     We set down here the number of businesses, grain and livestock buyers, and craftsmen, as follows: three general merchandise stores, two blacksmiths, two hardware stores, two furniture stores, two grain buyers, two livestock buyers, one wagon maker, one bricklayer, one watch maker, five schools, two inns [possibly bars, or restaurants], two hotels, one butcher shop, one harness maker, two druggists, two implement dealers, two milliners, one shoemaker, two lumberyards, ten carpenters, two renting stables [possibly livery stables], one creamery, two doctors, one bank, two seamstresses, and one fresco painter.

     NOTES: The article refers to a railroad track to “Mapleton.” This might mean “Maple River,” which is about six or seven miles south of Breda, although there is also a “Mapleton” in Monona County, straight west of Breda.