Consultation with Kentucky Heritage Council staff determined that Bright's Inn is Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterions A and C. Under Criterion A, Bright's Inn was found to be significant for its connections to early settlement in Kentucky and under Criterion C, it was found to be significant for its connections to early architecture in Lincoln County.
What Bright's Inn conveys is an era of travel which is now obsolete. Early settlers and others travelling across the Cumberland Gap from nearby states like Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia into the hinterland of the continent needed resources like Bright's Inn to make the difficult passage by horse or stagecoach. They could stop for a meal and a night or two stay before continuing their travels to their destination. Reinforcing the importance of this location for transportation, it continues to function as an important intersection of two major highways, US 27 and US 150. Across the roadway from Bright's Inn is a mid-century modern roadside motel, the Sunset Motor Lodge, which is also eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C. It still functions as a motel today.