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...

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...

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...

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...

Elhannon Nutt (fl. 1800-1810s) was a carpenter and joiner who fashioned elaborate and high quality woodwork, most notably mantels, for the houses of some of the central Piedmont's wealthiest men, where his work was combined with that of carpenters John J. Briggs and William Jones. According to Jean Bradley Anderson, Elhannon was the third son...

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...