Location: 52 220th Street Alexis, Illinois 61412
History
Brownlee Cemetery includes a prairie remnant, which became a dedicated state nature preserve. It survived through abandonment by the Great Rivers Presbytery when the church consolidated with the Norwood Church three miles away.
In the 1970's, Marshall Reynolds identified the site as a quality prairie endangered by a person grazing horses on the site.
Marshall took over management and began burning the prairie. In 1982, the Natural Lands Institute acquired the land from the Great River Presbytery and turned the deed over to the Mercy County Soil and Water Conservation District. This established the district as the first in the nation to own a dedicated nature preserve.
