Talk:List of former United States counties

Comment
Defunct counties from List of Massachusetts counties (to be incorporated)


 * 1) Cumberland County formed in 1760 from part of York County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 2) Devonshire County formed in 1674 from unorganized land in the Maine District. Abolished in 1675.
 * 3) Hancock County formed in 1789 from part of Lincoln County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 4) Kennebec County formed in 1799 from part of Lincoln County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 5) Lincoln County formed in 1760 from part of Yorkshire County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 6) Norfolk County one of four original counties created in Massachusetts in 1643. Abolished in 1679.
 * 7) Oxford County formed in 1805 from parts of Cumberland County and York County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 8) Penobscot County formed in 1816 from part of Hancock County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 9) Somerset County formed in 1809 from part of Kennebec County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 10) Washington County formed in 1789 from part of Lincoln County. Transferred to Maine in 1820.
 * 11) York County formed in 1652 from unorganized land in the Maine District with the name Yorkshire County. Suspended in 1664. Reinstated in 1668 as York County. Eliminated in 1680. Reinstated in 1691. Transferred to Maine in 1820.

I wouldn't put the counties transferred to Maine in the list, as they still exist, but in a different state. (The same with West Virginia, made entirely of counties which seceded from Virginia.) Only Norfolk and Devonshire are truly extinct. –radiojon 05:52, 2004 May 13 (UTC)

Should counties which were merely tranfered from a territory to another territory or state be included (since we are already not included those transfered between states). Examples: Des Moines County, Michigan Territory, Dubuque County, Michigan Territory. Rmhermen 14:43, Jun 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Maybe we need sublists for state-state or territory-territory transferred counties? Just a thought. No opinion on the Des Moines Q. jengod 18:44, Jun 16, 2004 (UTC)

Listing by state
From Talk:List of extinct U.S. counties by state:
 * Nonenmac, I don't really see the need for two lists of extinct U.S. counties; this is a topic that is always thought of by state, and moreover this new article does not credit in the history those who contributed to 'List of extinct U.S. counties'. I suggest you cut and paste the content of this article as your revision (which I think is an improvement) to 'List of extinct U.S. counties' and make this page a redirect.--Pharos 01:30, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * I agree that listing by state is more meaningful (at least to me). I didn't want to undo the work that was done on the alphabetical listing, in case someone wants it that way. But since at least one other person agrees with listing by state, and unless I hear arguments to the contrary, I'll do what you suggest -- maintaining two lists would be a lot of extra work anyway. Nonenmac 01:59, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Any objections? Nonenmac 02:29, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

San Francisco County, CA
I disagree with the inclusion of San Francisco County, CA, on this list. The county still exists; it just has a different kind of government from the rest of the state's counties. You might as well say that the counties of Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Richmond in NY are defunct, or that any county in a city/county consolidation is defunct. 69.140.80.231 13:07, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Illinois County, Virginia
I'm not too sure about the inclusion of this "county" in Ohio's extinct counties. Virginia's claim over Ohio was not surveyed until after Virginia had ceded the land to Congress, and I don't think Virginia ever held any administrative control over Ohio. But if so, we might also make note of the Connecticut Western Reserve, as Connecticut also layed claim to lands of the present state of Ohio. -- SwissCelt 06:12, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Was the Connecticut Western Reserve ever a county? Rmhermen 06:13, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, there was Westmoreland County, Connecticut, but I'm not sure of its borders. Which, I suppose, is my point:  It's unclear that either colony-- Connecticut or Virginia-- organized the Ohio lands into counties. -- SwissCelt 12:59, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
 * From the article: "In November of 1779, the Virginia legislature created the county of Illinois comprising all of the lands lying west of the Ohio River to which Virginia had any claim, with Kaskaskia as the county seat." Rmhermen 19:21, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Indian Nation counties
Would the extinct counties within the five Indian Nations be appropriate? I think only in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations were they called counties. The Cherokee Nation and Creek Nations called their local governmental divisions districts. Although, the Creek (Muscogee) Nation may have called theirs both districts and counties at different times. I don't think the Seminole Nation was large enough for divisions. OkieDokie 03:21, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Chickasaw Nation

 * Tishomingo County
 * Pontotoc County
 * Pickens County
 * Ponola County

Choctaw Nation

 * Apuckshunnubbee District:
 * Atoka County
 * Jack's Fort County
 * Cedar County
 * Nashoba County
 * Wade County
 * Eagle County
 * Red River County
 * Bok Tuklo County
 * Blue District:
 * Towson County
 * Kiamichi County
 * Moshulatubbee District
 * Gaines County
 * Tobucksy County
 * Sugar Loaf County
 * Skullyville County
 * Sans Bois County

Creek (Muscogee) Nation

 * Coweta District
 * Okmulgee District
 * Muscogee District
 * Deep Fork District
 * Eufala District
 * Wewoka District


 * As far as I can tell, these are the districts and counties that were within three of the old Indian Nations of Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). I don't have a list of the Cherokee Nation districts yet and the Seminole Nation does not appear to have had districts or counties. Only the Five Civilized Tribes had constitutional governments and were called nations, as far as I can tell. Although the Osage Nation did install a constitutional government just before they were dissolved, I don't think they ever sent a representative to the US House of Representatives. But I am no expert. OkieDokie 14:48, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Cherokee Nation (pre-Civil War)

 * Canadian District
 * Delaware District
 * Going Snake District
 * Illinois District
 * Flint District
 * Saline District
 * Skin Bayou District
 * Tahlequah District

Cherokee Nation (post-Civil War)

 * Canadian District
 * Cooweescoowee District
 * Delaware District
 * Flint District
 * Going Snake District
 * Illinoise District
 * Saline District
 * Sequoyah District
 * Tahlequah District

These lists may be incomplete. OkieDokie 22:48, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

District of Columbia
I made the section list the one present day county-equivalent, which is DC itself. This is because List of counties in the District of Columbia redirects there. I know that I'm trying to jam an oval-shaped peg into a round hole, but the only alternative I see is to have a "List of counties in the District of Columbia" article which would be almost identical to this section. It doesn't seem worth dividing our effort between two almost identical "articles" simply to avoid having this page state that DC itself is a county-equivalent. Plus it is worth noting predominantly that all of DC's counties are former counties. Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 23:16, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

King County, WA?
Kind of a weird case, but should King County, Washington be included on this page? It was officially renamed in 1986, the Council motion referred to it as precisely that, it's just that the renaming was a change from King County (named after William Rufus King) to King County (named after Martin Luther King Jr.). Technically and officially, it does qualify as a "[county] that [was] renamed but retained [its] territorial integrity," but it's such an odd situation that I wanted to check before making the edit myself. Idran (talk) 17:50, 10 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Yup, that's a weird one to be sure. Seems it is a bit of trivia that belongs somewhere in WP, maybe in Martin Luther King Jr. YBG (talk) 21:37, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

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