[6] The village is one of the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie books.

There is a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in the local Masters Hotel.

Hamlin Garland, noted American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, Georgist, and psychical researcher lived on a farm in Hesper Township, near Burr Oak during the 1870s.

31.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Previously Burr Oak was within the North Winneshiek Community School District.

[13] North Winneshiek CSD operated all grade levels until 2001, when it ended its high school program.

According to district agreements, students in the district could attend Decorah High or the high school program of Mabel-Canton Public Schools in Mabel, Minnesota.

[16] In 2018 the combined interim board of Decorah CSD and North Winneshiek CSD approved an agreement with Mabel-Canton schools, effective for five years, to allow students in the former North Winneshiek district boundary to attend Mabel-Canton if they choose.