The town, where several families already lived, was named for Colonel Robert K. Byrd, a state senator whose district included the new county.

Former Secretary of State Cordell Hull (1871–1955)— who played a pivotal role in the creation of the United Nations— was born just west of Byrdstown.

The Pickett County Courthouse, built in 1935, and the Cordell Hull Birthplace are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[10] The town is situated in a hilly area on the Highland Rim, a few miles south of the Kentucky state line.

This highway connects Byrdstown with the Dale Hollow Lake and Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park areas to the west, and the rural parts of central Pickett County to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), all of it land.