The Burwell School Historic Site presents the lives of the individuals who lived within and near Burwell School during the antebellum years and the Civil War. The site includes a circa 1821 residence; circa 1837 brick necessary; and an academy for girls, the Burwell School. The school functioned between 1837 and 1857. The site was also home to more than 30 slaves, including Elizabeth Hobbes Keckly (1818-1907), who would become a close friend of Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckly eventually wrote Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years as a Slave and Four Years in the White House.

The site offers 45-minute guided tours, self-guided garden tours, a fourth-grade curriculum-based program, outreach programs for schools, a Scout program, workshops about Keckly, research library access, and research assistance.