Easton, MD Summary

Easton is a small town of just 10,000 people located along the tributaries of Chesapeake Bay in eastern Maryland. Talbot County’s first courthouse was established there in 1711, and the town has been a center of trade and government ever since. The town has retained its unique charm despite suffering three disastrous fires over the years (in 1810, 1855, and 1878), and has worked hard to preserve its architecture and landmarks.

The Historical Society of Talbot County offers tours through three restored homes: the James Neall House (1810), the Joseph Neall House (1795), and a seventeenthcentury reconstruction named “Ending of Controversie.” The society’s beautifully maintained gardens have won both state and national acclaim. Maps for selfguided walking tours of historic downtown Easton are available.

The Academy Art Museum is the result of a merger between two historic buildings, creating five galleries, art and dance studios, conference rooms, and a lightfilled atrium. The academy is now the eastern shore’s premier art museum and is nationally recognized for its exhibitions and performing arts programs.

The historic 400-seat Avalon Theater was built in 1921 and has been restored to its original Art Deco splendor, offering a yearround schedule of performing arts and community events. The Third Haven Friends Meeting House, built in 1682 on a Native American trail, is the oldest religious building still in use in the United States and the earliest dated building in Maryland.

Every year on the second weekend in November, up to 20,000 people from across the country come to Easton for the Waterfowl Festival, a three-day celebration of the arts, to view and buy some of the best wildlife art in the world. Up to 450 artists and artisans exhibit paintings, sculpture, carvings, decoys, and photographs in 18 sites across the colonial town.

The Bishop’s House is a landmark of Talbot County and one of the finest B&Bs on Maryland’s eastern shore. Located in Goldsborough Street, this 1880 Victorian mansion was the home of Philip Thomas, governor of Maryland from 1848 to 1851.