Burnsville ยท Burnsville Town Square
The NuWray Hotel
Grown from an antebellum tavern on Burnsville's square; the hotel dates it to 1833 and calls itself the state's oldest continuously operating hotel.
- Built
- c. 1833The hotel says 'first built in 1833'; the NR says the original construction date is uncertain, possibly as early as the town's 1833 founding. The east wing was added in 1867 and the building reached its present form in 1915-17.
- Style
- Three-story frame inn with long veranda
- Type
- Inn
- Area
- Burnsville Town Square
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The story
The inn grew from an antebellum tavern owned by Bacchus (Backhaus) Smith on Burnsville’s town square. After the Civil War Garret Ray bought it, added wings and a third story, and ran it as Ray’s Inn. His daughter Julia and her husband William Wray modernized it in 1915-17, added electricity and renamed it the Nu-Wray Inn. The NR nomination calls it one of the most celebrated inns in the state and notes it was famous for its meals.
Good to know
- Address: 102 Town Square, Burnsville, NC 28714
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.