Editing Easton, Maryland (section)

== History ==

[[File:Talbot County Courthouse, Easton, Maryland (2008).jpg|thumb|left|Courthouse in Downtown Easton]]

===18th century===
The town of Easton received its official beginning from an Act of the Assembly of the [[Province of Maryland]] dated November 4, 1710. The act was entitled, "An Act for the Building of a Court House for Talbot County, at Armstrong's Old Field near Pitt's Bridge". Pitt's Bridge crossed a stream forming the headwaters of the Tred Avon or Third Haven River. It was located at a point where North Washington Street crosses this stream, now enclosed in culverts, north of the Talbottown Shopping Center, and passes under the Electric Plant property. Prior to this date, the court had met at York, near the mouth of Skipton Creek. The court decided that this location was not convenient to all sections of the county and, in order to change the location, the above act of the Assembly was passed. As a result of this act, two acres of land were purchased from Philemon Armstrong, at a cost of 15,000 pounds of tobacco. Upon this tract, the same plot upon which the present [[Talbot County Courthouse (Maryland)|Talbot County Courthouse]] now stands, the court house, a brick building 20 x 30 feet, was erected at a cost of 115,000 pounds of tobacco. The courts of the county were held in this building from 1712 until 1794. A tavern to accommodate those who attended court was one of the first buildings erected; stores and dwellings followed. The village was then known as "Talbot Court House". These were not the first buildings in the area. The frame meeting house of the Society of Friends was built between 1682 and 1684. The Wye plantation was settled in the 1650s by Welsh Puritan and wealthy planter Edward Lloyd and is owned and occupied by the 11th generation of that family.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hubbard |first1=Sherwood M. |title=History of Easton |url=https://www.eastonmd.gov/Charter%20and%20Code/THE%20CHARTER%20HISTORY%20OF%20EASTON.pdf |website=EastonMD.gov |publisher=Town of Easton, Maryland |access-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref>

Easton may be named because of its location east of [[Saint Michaels, Maryland|Saint Michaels]]; however, it is more likely that it was named after [[St Cuthbert Out|Easton]] in [[Somerset|Somerset, England]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kenny|first1=Hamill|title=The Placenames of Maryland : their origin and meaning|date=1984|publisher=Maryland Historical Society|location=Baltimore, Md.|isbn=0-938420-28-3|page=83}}</ref>

===20th century===
In 1916, the town erected the "[[Talbot Boys]]" statue in honor of Confederate soldiers from [[Talbot County, Maryland|Talbot County]].<ref>{{cite book |title=New City Upon a Hill, A History of Columbia, Maryland |page=26|first1=Joseph Rocco |last1=Mitchell |first2=David L. |last2=Stebenne |date=March 31, 2007|isbn=9781614230991}}</ref><ref name="withstands">{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Colin |title=As Confederate symbols come down, 'Talbot Boys' endures |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/eastern-shore/bs-md-talbot-boys-memorial-20160516-story.html |access-date=March 1, 2017 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=May 16, 2016}}</ref> It stood for 107 years before being [[Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials|removed]] in 2022 after years of controversy.<ref name="removed" />

In 1919, Isaiah Fountain, a black farmer from [[Trappe, Maryland|Trappe]], was the last person to be legally executed on the Eastern Shore.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Koper |first1=Joe |title=Notorious case ended in Easton Jail Hanging |url=https://www.stardem.com/opinion/columns/notorious-case-ended-in-easton-jail-hanging/article_00d15687-c35a-50fe-965a-b54aaaf8e8d3.html |access-date=16 November 2024 |publisher=The Star Democrat |date=July 23, 2023}}</ref> The case made national headlines and sparked outrage about racial injustice. After the first day of his trial, a mob of 2,000 assembled on courthouse grounds and attempted to grab and [[lynching|lynch]] Fountain.<ref>{{cite news |title=100 years later: Sensationalized Fountain case appears to have faded from memory |url=https://www.myeasternshoremd.com/kent_county_news/news/100-years-later-sensationalized-fountain-case-appears-to-have-faded-from-memory/article_697b109c-1540-5cdc-80cf-69956351df03.html |access-date=16 November 2024 |publisher=Kent County News |date=July 23, 2020}}</ref> This is the largest incident of mob violence in Talbot County history to date.

===21st century===
In 2008, a lost painting of a Paris street scene by [[Édouard Cortès]] was discovered amongst donated items at a [[Goodwill Industries]] store in Easton. After an alert store manager noticed that it was a signed original, the painting was auctioned for $40,600 at [[Sotheby's]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Easton Team Scores Big!|year=2008|journal=Goodwill Connection|issue=II|page=8}}</ref>

In 2011, local officials erected a statue of [[Frederick Douglass]], the noted abolitionist, who was born a slave in 1818 at the [[Wye River (plantation)|Wye River plantation]] in northern Talbot County.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Home of the Brave|year=2017|magazine=Smithsonian|issue=48|page=67}}</ref>

In 2015, and again in August 2020, the Talbot County Council voted against removing the Talbot Boys statue,<ref name="withstands" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Spector |first1=Candice |title=Vote keeps Talbot Boys in place |url=https://www.stardem.com/emergency_notice/vote-keeps-talbot-boys-in-place/article_bd50ae40-012b-5d6c-865d-861855433ccd.html |access-date=August 12, 2020 |work=[[The Star Democrat]] |date=August 12, 2020 |location=Easton, Maryland |language=en}}</ref> but in September 2021, the council voted to remove the statue.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oxenden |first1=McKenna |title=Talbot Boys Confederate monument to be removed on courthouse grounds on Maryland's Eastern Shore |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/eastern-shore/bs-md-talbot-boys-statue-relocation-20210915-q63slcw6nzgkbbb6275pwj3vtm-story.html |access-date=February 21, 2022 |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=September 15, 2021}}</ref> On March 14, 2022, the statue was removed.<ref name="removed">{{cite news |title=Confederate 'Talbot Boys' Statue Removed From Courthouse For Relocation |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/confederate-talbot-boys-statue-removed-from-courthouse-for-relocation/ |access-date=July 23, 2022 |work=[[WJZ-TV]] |date=March 14, 2022}}</ref>

In 2018, Easton was named one of America's top 5 coolest places to buy a vacation home by Forbes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/petertaylor/2018/05/29/the-5-coolest-places-in-america-to-buy-a-vacation-home-now/|title=America's Top 5 Coolest Towns To Buy A Vacation Home|last=Taylor|first=Peter Lane|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=July 31, 2019}}</ref>