[2] The area of Yancey County was inhabited by the Cherokee prior to European settlement, as was much of the southern Appalachian region.

[citation needed] Independent and sturdy Scottish, English, and Scotch-Irish and Irish settlers of the Carolina frontier had crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and settled the Toe River Valley by the mid-18th century.

As a U.S. congressman (1813–1817) and as Speaker of the N.C. Senate (1817–1827), he was instrumental in many accomplishments that benefited the state, including the creation of an education fund that was the beginning of the N.C. Public School System.

In Yancey's boundaries looms Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the Eastern U.S., at 6,684 feet (2,037 m) above sea level.

On March 6, 1834, "Yellow Jacket" John Bailey conveyed 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land for the county seat.

The town was named Burnsville in honor of Captain Otway Burns, who voted for the creation of the new western county when he was serving in the General Assembly.

A statue of Captain Burns stands on a 40-ton, Mount Airy granite pedestal in the center of the town's public square, which was given the official name of "Bailey Square" by the Yancey County Board of Commissioners on September 1, 1930.

North Carolina's Foremost Son in the War of 1812-1815 - For Him, This Town Is Named - He Guarded Well Our Seas, Let Our Mountains Honor Him.

The Burnsville Police Department operates in the town limits, while the Yancey County Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction over the rest of the county, aside from US Forest Service and State Park land, where law enforcement is provided by those respective agencies.

State law enforcement agencies operating in the county, with offices in Burnsville, include the Highway Patrol (Troop G) and the Department of Adult Corrections and Juvenile Justice (Probation Officers and Juvenile Court Counselors).

In 2017, the NC General Assembly passed a bill, sponsored by Rep. Michele Presnell, to change the YCS board elections from non-partisan to partisan.

[21] Mayland Community College serves the Toe River Valley counties of Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey.