Boydton was founded in 1812 by Alexander Boyd who owned the property and designed the town. Many of the town's streets are named for the patriotic heroes of the War of 1812. The town was incorporated in 1834, and it became the center of Mecklenburg County government. The Greek-Revival style courthouse with its pedimented portico of six columns was influenced by the Jeffersonian period of construction. It was an early horse-breeding region in America, and the race course property was sold in 1830 to the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church that built Randolph-Macon College, the oldest chartered Methodist college in the United States. After the civil war, the school as well as the entire South fell on hard times and the school was moved to Ashland, VA. The west wing wall is all that remains.

Boydton, today, is the county seat of Mecklenburg County government. The last Saturday in October is known as Boydton Day. The fall festival became known when U.S. News and World Report (Nov. 21, 1977) called it, "The Little Town that Refuses to Die." Boydton is located in the heart of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and is two miles from Kerr Lake and Dam which is locally known as Buggs Island Lake, a home to the world-famous bass fishermen tournaments and to the camping, swimming, skiing, hiking, and boating enthusiasts.