Nu-Wray Inn
About this property
The Nu Wray Inn is an historic hotel located at Burnsville, Yancey County, North Carolina. It was built in 1833 at the time Yancey County was formed and a year before Burnsville was established. It was originally built of logs and had eight bedrooms and a dining room and kitchen. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Thomas Wolfe spent the night there in 1929 when he was a witness at a murder trial in Burnsville. Elvis Presley and William Sidney Porter (O. Henry) were also guests. It was owned by the same family for a century until the death of Wray family patriarch Rush Wray. Everything is on the table in the Nu-Wray Hotel at Burnsville. Nobody waits to give an order. They bring it in, three or four kinds of meat, all the vegetables of the whole mountain countryside. There are dishes of homemade jellies and preserves. The country ham is excellent. The stout tables do not groan but the stuffed guest rising sometimes does. It is country plenty, country cooked and country served, but in proof that the persisting homesickness for country eating is not entirely based on legend. It was purchased by new owners in 2021, and has been under renovation since then. It acted as an important hub for recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It housed 16 members of the New York Swift Water Rescue team before and after the storm. They also worked with World Central Kitchen and fed hundreds of people every day during the recovery.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Nu-Wray Inn
This page lists Nu-Wray Inn. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Nu-Wray Inn listed on the National Register?
Nu-Wray Inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1982.
What type of historic resource is Nu-Wray Inn?
Nu-Wray Inn is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Nu-Wray Inn?
The period of significance for Nu-Wray Inn is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Nu-Wray Inn?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Nu-Wray Inn will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Yancey County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Yancey County.
Explore YanceyCounty ›More historic places in North Carolina
Browse all historic places in North Carolina.
View North Carolinahistoric sites ›North Carolina history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
North Carolinahistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Nu-Wray Inn will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.