John Berry (August 18, 1798-January 11, 1870) was a Hillsborough brickmason who became one of the most respected builders in the antebellum Piedmont. Berry was one of the first native North Carolina artisans to establish a large, long-lasting, and supra-local practice. Although his work concentrated in his native Orange County, he began early in...

Richard C. Biberstein (1859-1931), an engineer and mill architect from Texas who settled in Charlotte in 1887, was one of the most prolific designers of textile mills in North Carolina and the South. The full extent of his work and the status of his buildings have not yet been determined. Extensive records of his...

John J. Briggs (1770-1856), a highly skilled and widely respected Raleigh house carpenter, began work in the capital city during its early days and continued for more than a half-century. Along with accomplishing the fine carpentry work on a number of town and plantation houses, he served as "boss" carpenter at the North Carolina...

Conrad and Williams was a firm established in 1850 by John W. Conrad of the Conrad Family of builders and John Wilson Williams. It was founded to accomplish a major project and continued in business for several years. The firm, like the Conrad Family, constructed some of the most important and advanced buildings in...

Alexander Jackson Davis (1803-1892), a leading American architect of the antebellum period, had an important series of commissions in North Carolina that were significant both in the development of the state and Davis's national practice. The monumental North Carolina State Capitol (1833-1840) was designed by the firm of Town and Davis, but his subsequent...

Jack Dewey (fl. 1830s) was a slave carpenter from New Bern whose work for the Cameron family in Hillsborough and Raleigh is documented in their records. He belonged to Charles Dewey, cashier of the State Bank in Raleigh. He may have gained his training from Charles's father, New Bern carpenter John Dewey. In addition, he...

Samuel Hancock (1784-April 11, 1848), a brickmason and brickmaker in Hillsborough during the early 19th century, served as mentor to Hillsborough's distinguished brick builder John Berry and worked with Berry for several years. The Hancock name first appears in Orange County records in the 1780s. Samuel Hancock, whose father may have been Henry Hancock, could...

Asa King (ca. 1782-1843) was a highly skilled house carpenter who executed unusually fine Federal period woodwork in some of New Bern's most outstanding buildings. New Bern, the state's largest and most elegant city in this period, presents the state's premier assemblage of urban Federal style architecture, much of which shares similar forms, workmanship...

The architectural firm of Linthicum and Linthicum consisted of father and son Hill C. Linthicum (1860-1919) and H. Colvin Linthicum (1886-1952), who had prolific practices that encompassed several North Carolina communities. They represented the second and third generations of the family in building: Hill C. Linthicum's father,William H. Linthicum (1818-1886), was also a builder...

H. (Henri) Colvin Linthicum (1886-1952), the son of architect Hill C. Linthicum (1860-1919), joined in his father's practice as a young man and after his father's death had his own extensive practice in North Carolina. He was the third generation in the building professions: his grandfather, Hill's father, William H. Linthicum (1818-1886), was a...