United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
United States federal district court in Pennsylvania
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philadelphia as the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, and is now located at the James Byrne Courthouse at 601 Market Street in Philadelphia. There are four Eastern District federal courtrooms in Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading, and Easton.
The Court's jurisdiction includes nine counties in eastern Pennsylvania: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia counties. The district is a part of the Third Circuit. Appeals are taken to that Circuit, except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit.
The chief judge for the Eastern Pennsylvania District Court is Wendy Beetlestone.
The United States attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania represents the people in the district. On June 24, 2025, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania appointed David Metcalf as the United States Attorney for the district; this came 120 days after Attorney General Pamela Bondi appointed Metcalf to serve as interim United States Attorney on March 12, 2025.
History
The United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania” as united States federal district court in Pennsylvania. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as united States federal district court in Pennsylvania. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7889807. VIAF identifies the subject as 306289357. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1789 and 2025.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania primary sources, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.