Pole barns and barndominiums in East New Market, Maryland.
Building in East New Market.
East New Market is known for an unusually broad span of architectural styles, most from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. Long called Newmarket and incorporated in 1832, it grew as the social and commercial center of northern Dorchester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and its town center became a National Register historic district in 1975. Friendship Hall and the North Dorchester Heritage Museum on Academy Street belong to that history.
A new building here should look at home beside older houses, and it has to clear the Town before the County will issue a permit. We handle both steps from our Dover office, about 53 miles and about 78 minutes away by car, so you aren’t carrying papers between Main Street and the County Office Building in Cambridge.
- County
- Dorchester County, Maryland
- Population
- 389 (2020 Census)
- ZIP code
- 21631
- From our office
- About 1 hr 18 min (53 miles) by car
- Permits
- Town of East New Market, Municipal Building (Town Clerk / Planning & Zoning)
- Main roads
- MD 16, MD 14, MD 392 (western end at MD 16 in town)
Permits and rules in East New Market.
Zoning is a Town matter here, with its own Planning & Zoning Commission and Historic District Commission. You start at the Town of East New Market’s Municipal Building, 101 Main St. (410-943-8112), which provides permit forms by phone and gives written approval. That approval, with the forms and plans, goes to Dorchester County Planning & Zoning, which issues the building permit and the electrical, HVAC and plumbing permits and handles floodplain review. The Town inspects water and sewer connections, and the County does no zoning, subdivision or Critical Area review in town.
The Historic District Commission meets on the second Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and the Planning & Zoning Commission on the first Monday at 7:00 p.m. The Town’s zoning ordinance and historic district rules aren’t posted online, so whether a new outbuilding in the district needs commission review is a question for the Town before design starts. We ask it early, because a monthly meeting can set the pace of a project.
Who issues the permit
Town of East New Market, Municipal Building (Town Clerk / Planning & Zoning)
- Address
- 101 Main St., PO Box 24, East New Market, MD 21631
- Phone
- 410-943-8112 (fax 410-943-0254)
- Website
- Permit information(opens in a new tab)
Where this comes from
- dorchestermd.gov (opens in a new tab)
- msa.maryland.gov (opens in a new tab)
- townofeastnewmarket.org (opens in a new tab)
- fema.gov (opens in a new tab)
- dnr.maryland.gov (opens in a new tab)
Permit details checked October 2026. Rules change, so we confirm the current requirements for your parcel before anything is drawn.
What people build around East New Market.
In a town this old, the easy fit is a detached garage or a workshop behind the house, sized and finished so it doesn’t compete with the homes around it. A pole barn for a boat, an RV or a tractor works too, where the lot allows. Outside town limits, County rules apply: a rural parcel can take a barndominium, and on working farms Dorchester’s farm-building exemption from the building code covers equipment buildings and barns for livestock.
East New Market questions.
Have a question about your property? Call 302-399-4420 and we’ll look it up.
Do I need Town approval before the County permit in East New Market?
Yes. Dorchester County issues the building permit in East New Market only after the Town gives written approval. Start at the Municipal Building on Main Street, then bring that approval, with the forms and plans, to County Planning & Zoning. We carry the drawings and paperwork through both offices.
Is East New Market in the Critical Area?
East New Market isn’t on the state Critical Area Commission’s list of Dorchester jurisdictions, and the County does no Critical Area review in town. Floodplain review is one of the County’s services there, handled as part of the County permit.
How far is East New Market from your office?
It’s about 53 miles, about 78 minutes by car, from our office in Dover. Our crews cover East New Market for site visits and builds, and we coordinate both permit offices from start to finish.
Let’s plan your building in East New Market.
Tell us what you’d like to build and where, and we’ll come back with drawings and a free quote.
- info@pbuincde.com
- Office
- 575 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901 (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
- Hours
- Mon to Fri, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
- We build in
- East New Market and all of Dorchester County