[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), all of it land.

It was home the original campus of Randolph-Macon College and Boydton Academic and Bible Institute which succeeded it after its move to Ashland, Virginia.

The school was small and barely stayed in operation during the American Civil War as its focus abruptly changed from a Methodist seminary to military cadet training.

In the difficult post-war Reconstruction years the trustees relocated the remote and struggling school to its present location in Ashland, Virginia, closer to railroad service.

Boyd's Tavern is an early 19th-century structure originally operated by merchant Alexander Boyd, a Scottish immigrant, which in recent years has been restored by his descendants and opened to public tours.

In 1952 the large Kerr Lake was created nearby, drawing many boaters, campers, and fishermen to the local area (see Clarksville, Virginia).

[11] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.