For most of the active period of public lands settlement in the United States, district land offices were the basic operating units that conducted the business of transferring title.
The position of receiver was abolished, July 1, 1925, and the functions devolved upon the register, whose title was changed to "manager" in 1946.
The first of 362 land offices was opened at Steubenville, Ohio, on July 2, 1800; the last at Newcastle, Wyoming, on March 1, 1920.
The peak year for land offices was 1890, with 123 in operation.
These functions were gradually merged into other operations of the Bureau of Land Management.