The John Wesley McElroy house is a museum in Burnsville, North Carolina

Burnsville, North Carolina

Burnsville is a town in Yancey County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,623 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Yancey County.-Geography:Burnsville is located at ....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The vernacular Federal

Federal architecture

Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...

-Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 style house, which was built in the 1840s, is on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

History

The 3000 square feet (278.7 m²) house was built by John Wesley McElroy as a mansion for his wife, Catherine. McElroy was a local businessman and lawyer, and a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. During the war, the house was used as a hospital and the headquarters for the home guard. In 1889 the house was purchased by William Moore, a state senator and former captain in the Union Army. Moore's family lived in the house until 1917 and it became the first Post Office in Burnsville. During the 1970s the house was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

Rush Wray Museum of Yancey County History

The house was purchased in 1987 by the Yancey History Association. The Association restored the building, which was opened as the Rush Wray Museum of Yancey County History in 2003. The museum houses period furniture and exhibits on local history.

Sources

• Heritage of the Toe River Valley, Volume II, Lloyd Bailey - McElroy House, Michael C. Hardy

External links

• NC ECHO - Rush Wray Museum of Yancey County History - includes photos