 The northern part of the contemporary Zapadnodvinsky District was included into Toropetsky Uyezd of Pskov Governorate.Zapadnaya Dvina was founded in 1900 as a station on the railway connecting Moscow and Riga.The left bank of the Western Dvina in 1708 was included into Belsky Uyezd of Smolensk Governorate and remained there until 1929, with the exception of the brief periods between 1713 and 1726, when it belonged to Riga Governorate, and between 1775 and 1796, when Smolensk Governorate was transformed into Smolensk Viceroyalty.