{"nrhp_refnum":"91000019","name":"Colonial Hotel","other_names":["Inn at Wise Courthouse","DHR File No. 329-02"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Main and Spring Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wise","county":"Wise County","state":"VA","lat":36.97759305500006,"lon":-82.58064143399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2-story, white-painted brick Colonial Revival hotel built in 1910 at the corner of Main and Spring Streets in Wise, Virginia, next to the Wise County Courthouse. It is U-shaped with a hipped roof and is linked by a hyphen to an earlier brick commercial building.","why_significant":"The hotel is significant under Criterion A in commerce as a product of local businessmen's ambitions for economic growth and of early twentieth-century small-town civic promotion. Under Criterion C it is described as the best example of the Colonial Revival style in the county and the most significant architectural expression of Wise's commercial goals. It also served as a community center and an unofficial annex to the courthouse.","narrative":"Built in 1910 beside the Wise County Courthouse, this brick hotel at Main and Spring Streets was a response to the loss of the earlier Dotson Hotel to fire in 1909. A group of local businessmen formed the Wise Hotel Corporation and hired builder D. J. Phipps to construct a 22-room building for $17,000. The Colonial Revival design features a diagonal entrance under a pedimented Ionic portico, a modillion cornice, and a lobby with oak trim. In later decades the hotel was renamed The Inn at Wise Courthouse, expanded to include an adjacent commercial building, and praised by critic Duncan Hines. It hosted dances, receptions, civic meetings, and lawyers attending court. The idea for Clinch Valley College was conceived there in 1954. The hotel is valued for its commercial role in a small county seat and as the county's best example of Colonial Revival architecture.","period_of_significance":"1910-1940","architect_builder":"Phipps, D. J.","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as work in progress; parts of the building have fire damage, and the attic and second-floor apartments have been partly rebuilt or are fire-damaged.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.209437-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/6841/41684176/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/91000019.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000019/d8f6430e80-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000019/d8f6430e80-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jhb 10s","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Inn_at_Wise_Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jhb 10s</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:The_Inn_at_Wise_Courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684176","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Hotel_(Wise,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5148333"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/wise-county/colonial-hotel-91000019/"}