Bartlett Woods in Lee County, Illinois, preserves twenty-three acres of old woodland along Big Bureau Creek, a remnant of the much larger forest once associated with the early settlement of Knox Grove. Settled around 1830 by William Knox, the community grew to about fourteen families by 1846, opened its first school in Knox’s home in 1847, and gained an Ovid post office in 1848 before declining when the Illinois Central Railroad favored nearby Sublette. Set in glacial terrain between the Theiss and LaMoille moraines, the preserve contains mesic upland forest, diverse native trees and wildflowers, and wildlife including white-tailed deer, pheasants, and groundhogs.