{"nrhp_refnum":"82003529","name":"Wilkesboro-Smithey Hotel","other_names":["Smithey Hotel or Smithey's Department Store"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Broad and E. Main Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilkesboro","county":"Wilkes County","state":"NC","lat":36.14872949800008,"lon":-81.15092839499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick hotel and store building built in 1891 at the northeast corner of Broad and E. Main Streets, across from Courthouse Square in the center of Wilkesboro, North Carolina.","why_significant":"It was the most prominent hotel in the county seat for over half a century and housed the first store of N. B. Smithey's multi-million-dollar department store chain. It is also presented as an excellent, well-preserved example of late nineteenth century small town commercial architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1891 at the northeast corner of Broad and E. Main Streets, this three-story brick building faces Courthouse Square in downtown Wilkesboro. It replaced earlier wooden hotels on the same site and was financed by the Wilkesboro Hotel Company. Its Broad Street facade is nine bays wide, with a deeply corbeled cornice, narrow brick pilasters, segmental-arched windows with hood molds, and cast iron pilasters stamped by Mesker Bros. of St. Louis. A two-story gallery wraps most of the exterior. After the hotel company failed, Nikeard Bruce Smithey bought the building in 1906, ran the hotel, and opened a dry goods store on the first floor. That store grew into a chain of seventeen stores in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. The hotel also served as a local gathering place, with lawyers and judges dining there during court sessions. The building was recognized for its role in local commerce, its link to Smithey, and its well-preserved architecture.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late nineteenth century commercial architecture","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and altered; the first floor continues in use as Smithey's Department Store, while the upper floors remain relatively intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.422874-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/7187/47718703/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82003529.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003529/cccd3ef17f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003529/cccd3ef17f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G Keith Hall","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilkesboro_Smithey_Hotel.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">G Keith Hall</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilkesboro_Smithey_Hotel.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"09000290","name":"Downtown Wilkesboro Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-wilkesboro-historic-district-09000290/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718703","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkesboro-Smithey_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24436317"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wilkes-county/wilkesboro-smithey-hotel-82003529/"}