NCSU Libraries recently launched North Carolina Architects & Builders, an online biographical/reference work covering builders in North Carolina. It's got information on about 170 architects and builders as well as information on "hundreds" of buildings. It's available at http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/browse/.

You can browse by name, work location, active years, building types, or trades (engineer, contractor, brick mason, etc.) I looked at the ones active between
1780-1789 and got four results. There's a snippet of biography in the search results but the real results are on each builder's individual page, like this one for John Allen. A brief biography is listed as well as a bibliography of mentions for the user.

If you're more interested in buildings, check out the buildings index on this same site. This lists information about buildings all over the state, whether still standing or not. I hoped there was a listing for Dorton Arena. I did a search for Dorton and found a mention for J.S. Dorton arena in a builder's biography with some information, but alas I still couldn't find anything in the index. (Maybe I was looking in the wrong place.) Building information is integrated into the biographies of builders, and buildings do not seem to have standalone pages. (Which is a pity as I would have loved to see more pictures!)

This is an interesting way to take a look at North Carolina history -- through its structures. If you're an NCSU fan or alumni be sure to visit this site, as it has plenty of information on campus buildings.