Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022 - 42

KATELYN
YARBROUGH:
3 OVERLOOKED STARS
OF JONESBOROUGH
The notebooks. Dr. William Kennedy, the
previous owner of the Historic Eureka Inn,
documented its restoration and 200-yearplus
history in " almost excruciating
detail, " says innkeeper Katelyn Yarbrough.
Although they're accessible to guests in
the parlor, the notebooks " are like hidden
Easter eggs here. "
Heritage Alliance walking tour. Curious
A DREAM
COME TRUE
visitors can start at the Chester Inn
State Historic Site and Museum on West
Main Street and learn about the vintage
buildings and the people behind them.
Yarbrough recommends asking for tour
guide Bob Dunn.
Best view in town. Yarbrough suggests
climbing the hill on Main Street for
a beautiful, unobscured pic of the
architecturally diverse town at sunset.
" Residents do it all the time, " Yarbrough
says. " You just get all of these different
colors. It's like a pure, unadulterated shot
of what I picture Americana Main Street
USA to be. It's like, 'This can't be real.' " -NH
Katelyn Yarbrough brings fresh perspective to innkeeping in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
By NANCY HENDERSON | Photos courtesy KATELYN YARBROUGH
atelyn Yarbrough and her husband
Blake, a housekeeper at
the Historic Eureka Inn, had
already been keeping a journal
of observations that were going
wrong there when one night
Blake dreamed that they were
in charge of the place. A few days later,
they got a call from the inn's owner, historic
preservationist Dr. William Kennedy.
Would they be interested in running
the inn? " And, " says Yarbrough, 33, who
was working at the Jonesborough Repertory
Theatre at the time, " I was just like,
'This is a sign.' "
K
That was seven years ago. Since then,
the couple has invigorated the downtown
landmark, used their creativity to
adapt to COVID-19, and won the hearts
42 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
of the people of Jonesborough while establishing
the Historic Eureka Inn as a
fixture in the community.
A born-and-bred Southerner from
High Point, North Carolina, Yarbrough
was in ninth grade when she moved with
her parents and two brothers to Johnson
City. Despite her creative personality,
she set out to earn a pre-dental chemistry
degree on a scholarship to the University
of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
" I wanted to be a dentist for the longest
time just because I really like teeth, "
she says with a laugh. " The first thing I
notice about somebody is their smile. "
Her career plans took a detour when
after landing an after-school job at a pizza
eatery, she loved it so much that she
stopped going to class to pick up extra
shifts. That didn't go over so well with
her mom, who promptly moved her back
home. Once there, Yarbrough enrolled at
a local community college.
But, she admits, " I just couldn't sit
through class. " Instead, she jumped back
into the restaurant business, where she
met Blake, a cook and bartender with hotel
experience.
Her heart was in hospitality, she says,
partly because it gave her a way to serve
the public without having to be an extrovert
like her " bubbly " parents, a nurse
and an art teacher-ordained minister.
Stints at several popular pubs and restaurants
in Northeast Tennessee also primed
her for what she does now.
" My husband and I like to consider
ourselves the ambassadors for our guests
BRINGING
AN INN BACK
TO LIFE
http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022
