The 1881 Sheriff's House and Jail, originally designed by the firm of Dixon and Kennedy of Baltimore, is a high Victorian gothic building that in its time represented the leading fashion in America for urban civic architecture. This polychromatic brick and stone architecture, modeled on high-style English buildings of the period, is found mostly in the North, and is rare on the Eastern Shore. The plan for the Sheriff's House and Jail, incorporating two functions in one building, also illustrated current social theory about the rehabilitation of prisoners. The knitting together of domestic and penal functions was intended to foster prisoner recovery through a combination of decent treatment and exposure to normal, wholesome influences of home and community. Today the 1881 Sheriff's House and Jail stands restored and renewed on the Courthouse Square. It is the result of ten years of work by local and state preservationists, builders, architects, engineers, community organizations, and the county government. Architects for the project were Iott Architecture/Engineering of Salisbury, Maryland. The project was nominated by the Talbot County Historical Trust and the Easton Historic District Commission.

The George Brooks House at the intersection of Rolles Range Road and Route 33 north of St. Michaels is an outstanding example of a reconstruction and adaptation of a rural vernacular building. George Brooks was an African American, a respected businessman, and an advocate of his own work ethic whose published work is remembered in Talbot County. Noted for hard work and common sense, Brooks was also widely recognized for his humanity, which is reflected in the Victorian house that he expanded in the early 20th century to accommodate a large number of orphaned children of a relative. The photographic record of the finished George Brooks House project now adapted as a "B&B" by the owner and his architect, illustrates both the exactitude of the reconstruction of the building as well as the sensitivity and discretion with which a large addition was designed and situated. What is truly remarkable about his project is that when it was undertaken the house could have been categorized as "bulldozer ready". The owner and general contractor, Willard Workman, Jr., his partner Willard Workman III, and his architect Charles Paul Goebel, are to be commended for this renewal of the home and memory of George Brooks and for preserving a fine old house for posterity. The project was nominated by the Talbot County Historic Preservation Commission.

The Historic Districts Guidelines publication represents a significant step forward in the developing professionalism of the Easton Historic District Commission. Now fully adopted by the Town of Easton for the use of the Commission, the guidelines publication provides the Commission with an extensive analysis and set of design references for making decisions on the cases that come before it. Thus enabled, the Commission can rely on the Guidelines publication to bolster the consistency and appropriateness of its recommendations and rulings. In addition, the publication, available through Easton Planning and Zoning, is also a resource for people who own property within Easton's historic district. Written and illustrated by Richard Wagner of David Gleason and Associates, the publication was fostered in its conception and development by a Guidelines Committee under the direction of local architect and preservationist Charles Paul Goebel. Now finally in place as a practical and theoretical guide, this commendable publication is the end result of a great deal of coordinated work on the part of the professionals who wrote it and of a great many people from the Town of Easton. This project was generously supported through a grant from the Maryland Historical Trust. The preservation of this fine historic town will benefit from this effort for many decades to come. The project was nominated by the Easton Historic District Commission.

2000