Early settlers included several groups of Quakers, many of which remain active in the Snow Camp area, German farmers, and Scots-Irish immigrants.

On January 29, 1856, the last spikes were driven into the final tie of the North Carolina Railroad project, uniting the cities of Goldsboro and Charlotte by rail.

After several debates concerning where the shops would be located, Gen. Benjamin Trollinger, a progressive Alamance County manufacturer, made an offer that settled the matter.

[10] 57 buildings were constructed between 1855 and 1859, including structures for engine and machine shops, carpentry, blacksmithing, houses for workers and railway officials, and company headquarters.

[1] An appointed committee for the town selected the name, and the name was officially changed through North Carolina State Legislature.

[10] Around the turn of the century, Edwin M. Holt established small textile operations along the Haw River and Great Alamance Creek.

From the establishment of this single factory, Alamance County grew to eventually operate 30 cotton mills and 10 to 15 yarn manufacturing plants employing 15,000 people.

[11][12][13] Eventually, the early textile venture of Edwin M. Holt became known all over the world as Burlington Industries, and is now headquartered in nearby Greensboro.

Throughout this period, Burlington became a prosperous and vibrant little city filled with schools, churches, newspapers, telegraph and telephone lines, roads and a streetcar line—all in keeping with the latest "modern progress" of the times.

[14] Though textiles continued to dominate the local economy well into the 1970s, the people of Burlington knew they could not survive with only one industry.

After two years of production, the site was leased to Firestone Tire Company for the Army's tank rebuilding program.

Their contracts ensured Burlington's participation during the Cold War manufacturing and testing of emerging defense technologies.

[19] Located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, Burlington is characterized as having mostly flat land with a few rolling hills.

The Alamance County Recreation and Parks Department manages accesses to the Haw River Paddle and Hiking Trail at the following locations:[27][28][29] The Burlington Sock Puppets, members of the Appalachian League, a wood-bat collegiate summer league, play their home games at Burlington Athletic Stadium in Fairchild Park.

The Royals were rebranded as the Sock Puppets following the contraction and reorganization of minor league baseball prior to the 2021 season.

[30][31][32] Several current and former MLB players began their careers in Burlington, including Jim Thome, CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez, and Bartolo Colón.

It serves as the home of an amusement area consisting of a carousel, miniature train, boat and car ride, playground, amphitheater, baseball field, picnic shelters, and walking trails.

[55] Amtrak's Piedmont train connects Burlington to Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro, and other points in central North Carolina.

The Carolinian train continues to New York with intermediate stops including Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.