Area code 865
Area code 865 serves
Cities in the 865 area include Knoxville, Alcoa, Bean Station, Clinton, Gatlinburg, Harriman, Jefferson City, Kingston, Lenoir City, Maryville, Maynardville, Norris, Oak Ridge, Pigeon Forge, Plainview, Rockwood, Rutledge, Sevierville and Townsend.
History
When planning of the area code system concluded in 1947,
This division remained in place for 41 years, until area code 423 was created as the area code for most of East Tennessee, with 615 restricted to Middle Tennessee. The state's three area codes were now roughly coextensive with the Grand Divisions of Tennessee.
This was intended as a long-term solution. However, within only three years, 423 was already on the brink of exhaustion due to the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. With the prospect of 423 being exhausted by 1999, it soon became apparent that East Tennessee needed another area code, even though this would have forced some residents to change their numbers for the second time in a decade.
The
When plans were drawn up for the split, it was decided that the Tri-Cities were not large enough for their own area code, but were too large to follow Knoxville into 865. This left the Tennessee Regulatory Authority with two options–turn 865 into an
865 began its split on October 1, 1999; permissive dialing of 423 continued throughout East Tennessee until February 1, 2000.[2][3] This resulted in 423 becoming one of the few non-contiguous area codes in the country; 865 is now almost entirely surrounded by the two sections of 423.
On October 24, 2021, area code 865 was transitioned to
References
- ^ "New Knoxville Area Code Will Become '865' for 'VOL'". 17 April 1999.
- ^ See Brewer, Bill. "423 Area Code To Become VOL In 9 ET Counties." Knoxville News-Sentinel. April 17, 1999.
- ^ Tennessee Regulatory Authority press release, April 29, 1999
- ^ "Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline)" (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administrator. January 8, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
External links
North: 423 | ||
West: 931 | area code 865 | East: 423, 828 |
South: 423 | ||
910, 919/984
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