A historical marker for the school was erected by the Florence Historical Board and is located at W College Street at Burrell Street in Florence.

[4] The school was first named Burrell Academy and was initially located in Selma, Alabama.

[5] It was founded in 1869 as the first school for Blacks in the city of Selma, and was destroyed by a suspicious fire in 1900.

[1][5] In 1903, the school was rebuilt by the American Missionary Association (A.M.A), which had decided to change the location of the building based on need to Florence, Alabama.

The 1908–1909 catalog for the Burrell Normal School can be found at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.