National Register of Historic Places Inventory -Nomination Form
prepared by Richard J. Rivoire, Architectural Historian
for the Maryland Historical Trust
An Inventory of the East New Market Historic District
by Richard J. Rivoire
The East New Market Historic District encompasses within its
boundaries a small Dorchester County community located less than one
mile southeast of the town of Secretary and about ten miles northeast of
Cambridge, the county seat. The district is bounded on the south and
east sides by Md. Rt. 392, on the west side by Creamery Road, and on the
north side by Secretary Creek. The historic district is intersected by
Md. Rts. 14 and 16, which provide the main thoroughfares and along which
most of the town buildings are located.
The village consists of about seventy-five buildings that represent a
variety of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century architectural
styles. The majority of the buildings in the town appear to date from
the nineteenth century although a large percentage constitutes altered
versions of earlier buildings.
The earliest known survey of the town that records standing structures
is that which was published in a Dorchester County atlas in 1877. Most
of the buildings recorded in this atlas remain today, a feature probably
attributable to the fact that little later development occurred. A great
number of the buildings are private residences; only about ten are
utilized commercially and these are concentrated at the junction of the
two main streets, an area of the village long utilized for this purpose.
Almost all of the buildings, with the exception of those commercially
oriented, are located on large tree-shaded lots, set back at varying
distances from the public roads. Between the front of the lots and the
now paved streets are brick walks that were installed in 1884. In many
cases these walks have been covered as a result of poor drainage, but
all exist intact a short distance below ground level. the streets are
lined by a variety of lofty trees, an aesthetically pleasing feature
that adds great visual charm and physical continuity to the village. The
lands surrounding the town remain open and are cultivated yearly, a
characteristic feature of many Eastern Shore communities.
The only recent development that could be considered an encroachment on
the integrity of the village is a small concentration of modern
rancher-type houses on the east side of Creamery Road (see map). Other
changes that have occurred since about 1930 have fortunately been
confined to two commercial structures (a general store and a realtor’s
office), several unassuming homes, and the modernization of several of
the earlier residences.
Of the approximately seventy-five buildings in East New Market, at least
twenty-four can be contextually identified as possessing architectural
merit. Two of the best houses, Fletcher’s Folly, a large, Second
Empire-style building, and Rose Hill, an outstanding example of rural
Federal architecture, were demolished in recent years. The sites of
these buildings can be found on the attached sites identification map.
Other buildings include:
1) Friendship Hall; 2) a cross-shaped, frame, Victorian house with deep
porches and bracketed cornices and gables; 3) a two-story frame house
with double chimneys. This house probably dates from about 1800 and is
reminiscent of the architecture of the southern counties of Maryland; 4)
Smith Cottage, a diminutive one-story frame house with a single large
chimney at each end. Said to be of plank or log construction, this small
house is situated well back from the road, is shaded by towering trees,
and is one of the more attractive residences in the village; 5) New
Market, a two-story frame and brick house that incorporates a late
eighteenth century building into its present plan; 6) House of the
Hinges, a particularly noteworthy and important example of Federal
architecture displaying a handsome street facade embellished with
classically inspired decorations. To the rear of this house is a small
log building with decorative wrought hinges; 7) a large, ell-shaped,
nineteenth century frame house of pleasing proportions and detail; 8)
Manning House, a small, eighteenth century, one-story frame house that
has a remarkably well-preserved exterior. The two first floor principal
rooms of this house are paneled and have cater-cornered fireplaces. At
the rear of the house is a small log shed believed to be contemporary to
the house in its date of construction. The formerly detached kitchen is
joined to the house by a small frame hyphen; 9) the East New Market
Elementary School, a Colonial Revival-style building constructed in 1912
on the site of two earlier buildings, the 1818 New Market Academy and
the 1825 Sherman Institute; 10) a small, frame, circa 1900 building with
a crow stepped gable front that was probably originally used as a store;
11) the East New Market Episcopal Church, a charming 1898 frame building
with a noteworthy Victorian Gothic interior; 12) the Hurley House, a
two-story frame dwelling that from external observation appears to date
from the early twentieth century but which, in fact, incorporates an
eighteenth century building with exposed principal framing within the
forward part of the house; 13) a particularly fine Eastlake-styled house
completely original on the interior, also retaining some of the original
furnishings and fixtures; 14) Maurice Hall, one of the better eighteenth
century houses in the village that had later alterations made to it in
the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In a first floor room is
a highly decorative plaster ceiling. In the mid-nineteenth century a
cross-gable was added to the front slope of the roof; 15) The Trading
Post, a building said to have been an eighteenth century trading post of
log construction. Identifiable exterior evidences of its former
appearance are camouflaged by later alterations; 16) a large,
Victorian-style frame structure similar to No. 2; 17) a two-story,
three-part, early nineteenth century frame house of Federal proportions
and detail; 18) another large Victorian-style house similar to Nos. 1
and 16 and among the better examples of this style in the village; 19)
the Jones House, a gable fronted, two-story brick house of pleasing
proportions and plan. It is unfortunate that this interesting and
important house had its exterior walls recently refaced with used brick,
an alteration that was poorly and unsympathetically planned and
executed; 20) an early frame house that was altered in the late
nineteenth century to its present Victorian appearance; 21) a one-story,
bungalow-style frame house that represents a total renovation of an
earlier building; 22) the Methodist Church, a very simple 1848 building
with an attractive but somewhat austere interior. This building replaced
an earlier house of worship built about 1810.
East New Market was settled during the second half of the seventeenth
century on properties that included a tract owned by Henry Sewall,
secretary of the province of Maryland during the seventeenth century,
and close friend and associate of Lord Baltimore. It is believed that
the first white settler was John Edmonson, a Quaker who came here from
Virginia in the 1660s seeking religious freedom.
Early maps of the region, including that prepared by Augustine Hermann,
records the existence of an Indian village and fort not far from this
location, but as the area became colonized these original inhabitants
were forced to live on a reservation set aside for their use and located
between East New Market and Secretary. Artifacts relating to this
culture continue to be unearthed.
Shortly after Edmonson arrived he was joined by Colonel James
O’Sullivane and two of O’Sullivane’s brothers. They are known to have
lived within or proximate to the present village and are generally
recognized as being instrumental in furthering the early development of
the area. It is probably they who began the operation of a small trading
post here. The building which housed this operation, although altered,
is said to still exist.
East New Market was evidently moderately prosperous throughout the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The last quarter of the eighteenth
century, a period when many of the village’s better houses (Friendship
Hall, House of the Hinges, and Maurice Hall) were built, however, must
have been a period of greater economic stability and growth. In the
later part of the nineteenth century a second rise in relative
prosperity occurred, undoubtedly the result of the opening of a railroad
to the east of the village. The railroad gave the village greater value
as an economic center and it was at this time that there was an apparent
rise in commercial industry, including the establishment of two fruit
and vegetable houses.
By the late 1880s East New Market had established itself as a viable
part of the county’s economic stability. At this time the town
incorporated itself, several of the older homes were modernized, and
several large homes, reflecting tastes popular at that time, were built.
As there were also four long established and active churches in the
town, all representing different faiths, the town was considered a
center of religious activity as well.
However, by the close of the first quarter of the twentieth century the
importance of the town waned in the light of nearby Cambridge, the
county seat. Although by the 1930s the town still retained a large
percentage of its residents and buildings, commercial activity had been
greatly decreased and the village quietly slipped into obscurity.
East New Market remains today much as it was at the time of its
incorporation, probably due to the fact that development has been
minimized by the modest economic resources of the region. Therefore,
East New Market has escaped disruption from over-expansion while still
maintaining itself as a comfortable community with an interesting
history, a heritage reflected in its several finer homes.
As a community that remains so well preserved it deserves continued
maintenance to insure against possible encroachment as adjacent towns
expand and farms are subdivided. The village is not just a place where
there are several fine homes but is also, historically and physically,
an integral part of their environment. If East New Market were to be
developed the way a vast majority of small Maryland towns have, then the
significance of these several buildings would be greatly diminished, for
they are as much a part of the town as the town is of them. In addition,
East New Market affords a valuable opportunity to preserve an important
aspect of regional socio-economic development--an opportunity that is
diminishing in availability with frightening rapidity.