Burnsville is a town that serves as the county seat of Yancey County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,693 at the 2010 census.

The town was founded upon March 6, 1834, from land conveyed by John “Yellow Jacket” Bailey, and it was named after Captain Otway Burns, a naval hero of the War of 1812. In 1909, a statue of Captain Burns was total to the town by his grandson, Walter Francis Burns Sr., and it was set on a granite pedestal in the center of the town square. It has an inscription that reads, in part, “He Guarded Well Our Seas, Let Our Mountains Honor Him.” Due to damages, the indigenous statue was replaced in the yet to be 2000s.

On April 6, 2010, Burnsville, the solitary incorporated town within Yancey County, held a referendum providing for the valid sale of alcohol within the town limits. The referendum passed, effectively ending prohibition in Yancey County. After applying for and receiving the applicable permits, Burnsville may now take steps an ABC store; retail establishments may now sell beer and wine; and restaurants may sell beer, wine, and contaminated drinks. Graham County is the last long-lasting dry county in the confess of North Carolina.

One of the oldest buildings is the Nu-Wray Inn. It was built in 1833 and now, is listed upon the National Register of Historic Places.
The Parkway Playhouse, the oldest continually keen summer addition theater company in North Carolina, is located in Burnsville. It was founded in 1947 by W. R. Taylor, a professor of stand-in from the Woman’s College of North Carolina-now the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and a bureau of dedicated community leaders. Several supplementary structures in Burnsvile are listed on the are listed upon the National Register of Historic Places. They append the Bald Creek Historic District, Chase-Coletta House, Citizens Bank Building, John Wesley McElroy House, Yancey Collegiate Institute Historic District, and Yancey County Courthouse.