Welcome to the official web site for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. This site is designed to provide convenient and easy access to information about the court and its operations. Our main office is in Boston, with divisional offices in Springfield and Worcester.
The District of Massachusetts has 13 active judges, 2 senior judges and 7 magistrate judges. Boston has the most judges with 11 active judges, 2 senior judges and 5 magistrate judges. Springfield and Worcester are each staffed with 1 active judge and 1 magistrate judge in residence.
The first District Court session was held in Boston in December of 1789. Salem hosted the following term in 1790. Boston and Salem then alternated court session locations until 1813. At that time Boston became the court's official home. In 1933 the court was moved to the Post Office and Courthouse Building at Post Office Square in downtown Boston. Court sessions were held there until August of 1998 when we relocated into the John Joseph Moakley U. S. Courthouse on Boston Harbor, our present location.
In 1979, a western divisional office was established in Springfield, Massachusetts. This office was originally located on Dwight Street but was moved to the current location in the Federal Building and Courthouse on Main Street in Springfield in 1983.
In 1987, the court officially opened the central divisional office located in Worcester, Massachusetts at the Donohue Federal Building on Main Street.
