Also known as the Inn at Wise Courthouse, the Colonial Hotel was erected in 1910 on a site that had been used for hotel purposes since just after the Civil War. In the tradition of inns and taverns in courthouse towns since colonial times, the hotel served those having business with the Wise County court. When its predecessor, the Dotson Hotel, burned in 1909, a group of local businessmen founded the Wise Hotel Corporation and purchased the site for a new hotel. The corporation was initially headed by future Virginia governor, George C. Peery. A local builder, D. J. Phipps, was awarded the contract to erect the twenty-two-room structure. Employing a modified Colonial Revival style, this prominent local landmark was reopened near the end of the 20th century as a hotel and restaurant, renamed the Inn at Wise Courthouse.