"The Forks" was used as a name for Burlington, alluding to its geographic location at the confluence of the Des Lacs and Mouse Rivers.

In 1997, Raymond Kuntz from Burlington testified before the United States Senate that he believed his son, Richard, committed suicide due to the influence of the band Marilyn Manson.

[5] On January 18, 2002, a severe train derailment east of the city sent a gigantic cloud of anhydrous ammonia toward Minot and Burlington.

Power to Burlington, Des Lacs, and Berthold was knocked out due to damage to poles near the derailment site.

The power company serving these towns built a temporary connection to a neighboring electric cooperative's system to provide limited power until the site was sufficiently cleaned up to permit permanent repairs to be completed.

Residents were unable to access radios or televisions due to this, although messages went out advising people to stay inside.

[6] In early 2006, court cases were heard in Minneapolis, Minnesota, against Canadian Pacific Railway, the owner and operator of the derailed train.

This incident was used by Eric Klinenberg in his book Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media as an example of the failure of mass media, specifically local radio stations, to disseminate information to the public in an emergency.

Post-flood, most of the homes that were directly next to the Mouse River (and some next to the Des Lacs) were demolished as part of a new flood control plan.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.64 square miles (1.66 km2), all land.

The top 6 ancestry groups in the city are German (48.8%), Norwegian (32.3%), Irish (7.5%), Swedish (4.9%), English (4.7%), French (3.6%).

One of the first buildings in Burlington was the first Ward County Courthouse, built by James Johnson, and was used originally as a granary.

It was moved to the North Dakota State Fair fairgrounds in the mid-20th century and served as one of the three buildings of the Ward County Historical Society's Pioneer Village Museum.

In 2019, the Ward County Historical Society announced that the building was to be moved back to Burlington along with the entirety of Pioneer Village Museum due to legal issues with the State Fair Association.