The following are former United States district courts which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the jurisdictions which they covered increased in population. Two of the district courts—those of South Carolina and New Jersey—were subdivided but later recreated. Every change to the divisions and boundaries of these courts is effected by an act of the United States Congress, and for each such action, the statutory reference is identified.

Alabama

The United States District Court for the District of Alabama was created on April 21, 1820, by .Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 390.U.S. District Courts of Alabama, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. It was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on March 10, 1824, by . The Middle District was subsequently formed from parts of these two districts on February 6, 1839, by ,Alfred Conkling, A Treatise on the Organization, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States (1864), p. 178. with legislation specifying that the Middle District Court was to be held at Tuscaloosa, the Northern District Court at Huntsville, and the Southern District Court at Mobile. The Districts were reorganized on August 7, 1848.Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 391. Only one judge was ever appointed to the District of Alabama.

Arkansas

Arkansas, originally part of the Louisiana Purchase, became part of the Missouri Territory in 1812, when Louisiana became a state. When Missouri became a state in 1819, a territorial government, including a territorial court, was organized for Arkansas, taking effect on July 4, 1819.Lynn Foster, Their Pride and Ornament: Judge Benjamin Johnson and the Federal Courts in Early Arkansas, 22 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 21 (1999). The United States District Court for the District of Arkansas was established with a single judge when Arkansas became a state, on June 15, 1836, by , 51.U.S. District Courts of Arkansas, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The court was subdivided into Eastern and the Western Districts on March 3, 1851, by .Alfred Conkling, A Treatise on the Organization, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States (1864), p. 179.

California

The United States District Court for the District of California existed from 1866 to 1886. California was admitted as a state on September 9, 1850, and was initially divided into two districts, the Northern and the Southern, by Act of Congress approved September 28 .U.S. District Courts of California, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The boundary line was at the 37th parallel north.Willoughby Rodman, History of the Bench and Bar of Southern California (1909), p. 46. The creating act provided that:

In addition to the ordinary jurisdiction and powers of a District Court of the United States, with which the Southern District Court of New York has been invested, the said Courts be and hereby are invested respectively within the limits of its district with the exercise of concurrent jurisdiction and power in all civil cases now exercised by the Circuit Courts of the United States; and that in all cases where said Courts shall exercise such jurisdiction, appeals may be taken from the judgments, orders or decrees of said Courts to the Supreme Court of the United States.

On February 27, 1851, President Millard Fillmore appointed Ogden Hoffman Jr., as the judge presiding over the Northern District. The Act of August 31, 1852, made the Judge of the Northern District be Judge of the Southern District as well until otherwise provided, by , 84, effectively creating a single District in all but name until an Act of January 18, 1854 provided for the appointment of a Judge for the Southern District. The Southern District of California was abolished and the State made to constitute one district by Act of Congress approved July 27, 1866, .

Twenty years later, on August 5, 1886, Congress re-created the Southern District of California (and, by extension, the Northern District) by . Hoffman, who had continued serving as the sole district judge, again became judge of the Northern district only, there continuing in service for five more years. Erskine Mayo Ross was appointed Judge of the new Southern District and served until his promotion to the Circuit Judgeship, when he was succeeded by Olin Wellborn.

On March 18, 1966, the Eastern and Central Districts were created from portions of the Northern and Southern Districts by .

Florida

On the same day that Florida was admitted as a state, March 3, 1845, Congress enacted legislation creating the United States District Court for the District of Florida, .Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 393.U.S. District Courts of Florida, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. On February 23, 1847, divided the jurisdiction of this court between the Northern District and a Southern District Courts with the boundary between as:

[T]hat part of the State of Florida lying south of a line drawn due east and west from the northern point of Charlotte Harbor, including the islands, keys, reefs, shoals, harbors, bays and inlets, south of said line, shall be erected into a new judicial district, to be called the Southern District of Florida; a District Court shall be held in said Southern District, to consist of one judge, who shall reside at Key West, in said district...

The same statute directed the Northern District to hold court at Apalachicola, Florida, and Pensacola, Florida.

On July 30, 1962, the Middle District was created from portions of the other districts by .

Georgia

The United States District Court for the District of Georgia was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, , on September 24, 1789.U.S. District Courts of Georgia, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on August 11, 1848, by . The Middle District was formed from portions of those two Districts on May 28, 1926, by .

Illinois

The United States District Court for the District of Illinois was established by a statute passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819, .U.S. District Courts of Illinois, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, and appeals from the court were taken directly to the United States Supreme Court. In 1837, Congress created the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, placing it in Chicago, Illinois and giving it jurisdiction over the District of Illinois, . The District itself was eliminated by a statute passed on February 13, 1855, , under which it was subdivided into the Northern and the Southern Districts. The boundaries of the District and the seats of the courts were set forth in the statute:

The counties of Hancock, McDonough, Peoria, Woodford, Livingston, and Iroquois, and all the counties in the said State north of them, shall compose one district, to be called the northern district of Illinois, and courts shall be held for the said district at the city of Chicago; and the residue of the counties of the said State shall compose another district, to be called the southern district of Illinois, and courts shall be held for the same at the city of Springfield.

The district has since been re-organized several times. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois was created on March 3, 1905, by , by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978, which replaced it with a Central District, , also formed from parts of the Northern and Southern Districts.

Indiana

The United States District Court for the District of Indiana was established on March 3, 1817, by .Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 392.U.S. District Courts of Indiana, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on April 21, 1928, by . Of all district courts that have been subdivided, Indiana existed for the longest time as a single court, 111 years.

Iowa

The United States District Court for the District of Iowa was established on March 3, 1845, by .Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 394.U.S. District Courts of Iowa, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on July 20, 1882, by .

Kentucky

The United States District Court for the District of Kentucky was part of one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, , on September 24, 1789.U.S. District Courts of Kentucky, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. At the time, Kentucky was not yet a state, but was within the territory of the state of Virginia. The District was unchanged when Kentucky became a state on June 1, 1792. On February 13, 1801, the Judiciary Act of 1801, , abolished the U.S. district court in Kentucky, but the repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, . The District was subdivided into Eastern and Western Districts on February 12, 1901, by .

Louisiana

On March 26, 1804, Congress organized the Territory of Orleans and created the United States District Court for the District of Orleans – the first time Congress provided a territory with a district court equal in its authority and jurisdiction to those of the states.U.S. District Courts of Louisiana, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. The United States District Court for the District of Louisiana was established on April 8, 1812, by , several weeks before Louisiana was formally admitted as a state of the union. The District was thereafter subdivided and reformed several times. It was first subdivided into Eastern and Western Districts on March 3, 1823, by .

On February 13, 1845, Louisiana was reorganized into a single District with one judgeship, by , but was again divided into Eastern and the Western Districts on March 3, 1849, by . Congress again abolished the Western District of Louisiana and reorganized Louisiana as a single judicial district on July 27, 1866, by . On March 3, 1881, by , Louisiana was for a third time divided into Eastern and the Western Districts, with one judgeship authorized for each. The Middle District was formed from portions of those two Districts on December 18, 1971, by .

During the course of its frequent subdivisions and reunifications, four judges served as judge of the District of Louisiana: Dominic Augustin Hall, (1812–1820), John Dick, (1821–1823), Theodore Howard McCaleb (1845–1849), and Edward Henry Durell (1866–1874).Judges of the District of Louisiana, Federal Judicial Center. Hall was appointed to the District of Louisiana twice. He briefly resigned from the District Court to serve as a Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was shortly thereafter reappointed to the same seat on the District Court, which had remained vacant in his absence.

Michigan