Thomas Bragg, Sr. (1778-1851), was a prominent house carpenter whose work in the plantation counties along the Virginia border included houses, churches, and other buildings in Federal and Greek Revival styles. He was born in Craven County, son of Hannah Tolson Bragg (b. 1742) and John Bragg (1741-1816), a pilot and native of Carteret...

Thomas Henry Briggs, Sr. (1821-1886), builder and manufacturer, worked in Raleigh during a long career that extended from the antebellum period into the 1880s. With James Dodd, he formed about 1850 the company of Briggs and Dodd, contractors and manufacturers of building components. The firm constructed some of the city's most stylish and complex...

James Calder (fl. 1810s), builder, came to Raleigh to build the Governor's Palace (1814-1815). On June 18, 1814, commissioners to build the governor's residence, dissatisfied with proposals received, sought others from "Architects at a distance." They adopted a design from a prominent citizen, Calvin Jones, who had provided a plan drawing and description of...

The Conrad family of builders from Davidson County, who also formed a firm called Conrad and Williams with their partner John Wilson Williams, constructed some of the most important and advanced buildings in the western North Carolina Piedmont during the antebellum period. The Conrad family possessed traditional skills as cabinetmakers and carpenters, but they...

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...

Jacob W. Holt (March 30, 1811-September 21, 1880) was a Virginia-born carpenter, builder, and contractor who moved to Warrenton, North Carolina, and established one of the state's largest antebellum building firms. His work covered several counties in North Carolina and Virginia. Drawing upon popular architectural books, he developed a distinctive style that encompassed Greek...

William Nichols (1780-December 12, 1853), an English-born house carpenter, architect, and engineer, worked in North Carolina from 1800 until 1827, during which time he planned and built some of the state's finest and most advanced buildings. The first resident architect in North Carolina since John Hawks, he was also the first North Carolina architect...

John A. Waddell (1826-January 12, 1883), carpenter and contractor, spanned the transition in building from antebellum traditions to post-Civil War mass production. He began his career as a house carpenter associated with builder Jacob W. Holt in Warrenton, North Carolina, and after the Civil War he established the large contracting and manufacturing firm of...

A. L. (Albert Lawrence) West (1825-1892), a Richmond, Virginia, architect, had a long and productive career that spanned the second half of the 19th century. Although most of his work was in Virginia, he also designed a number of North Carolina buildings, of which only the Pasquotank County Courthouse in Elizabeth City still stands West...