Andersonville NHS has three main features: the National Prisoner of War Museum, the historic prison site, and the National Cemetery.

Andersonville National Historic Site is the only park in the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.

Congress stated in the authorizing legislation that this park's purpose is "to provide an understanding of the overall prisoner of war story of the Civil War, to interpret the role of prisoner of war camps in history, to commemorate the sacrifice of Americans who lost thier lives in such camps, and to preserve the monuments located within the site."