Area codes 201 and 551

Coordinates: 40°52′04″N 74°26′16″W / 40.8678°N 74.4379°W / 40.8678; -74.4379
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Numbering plan areas and area codes of New Jersey
Map of numbering plan area 201/551

Area codes 201 and 551 are telephone

973 and 908 numbering plan areas, such as Newark, Morristown, and New Brunswick
.

History

Area code 201 was the first-assigned numbering plan area (NPA) code of the

Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) service, when in 1951 the first direct-dialed long-distance call was made from Englewood, New Jersey to Alameda, California.[1]

Area code 201 was originally assigned to the entire state of New Jersey,

area code 609. This separated the two population centers into distinct call routing systems for out-of-state long-distance calls. Despite the division with two area codes, all calls within the state of New Jersey were dialed without area codes until July 21, 1963,[7][8][9]
when office code protection was ended.

For over thirty years, area code 201 served Bergen, Hudson, Ocean, Essex, Union, Morris, Passaic, Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, Sussex and Warren counties.

As the central region of New Jersey grew during the 1980s, the northeastern section of the state lost sizable portions of its population due to the decline of its major cities, including Newark, Paterson, Clifton, and Elizabeth. On June 8, 1991, area code 908 was created by a split of numbering plan area 201; it primarily serves the north-central regions of the state.[10]

Within four years, 201 was close to exhaustion once again due to the proliferation of

area code 973.[10][11]
This left Hudson and Bergen counties, the two most densely populated counties in the state and the closest to New York City, as the only counties in the 201 plan area.

Although the 1997 split was intended as a long-term solution, demand for new numbers continued in Hudson and Bergen counties, and another area code became necessary.

overlay rather than a split. Overlays were a new concept at the time, and were controversial because they required implementation of ten-digit dialing
. However, Verizon wanted to spare its customers the burden of changing telephone numbers.

Area code 551 was created in 2001 to overlay 201, along with area codes

732, respectively.[12] With the implementation of the overlays on December 1, 2001, ten-digit dialing
became mandatory in Northern New Jersey.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "1951: First Direct-Dial Transcontinental Telephone Call". AT&T. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  2. ^ "Now you can call". The Virginian-Pilot. 1995-11-01. Archived from the original on 2008-03-16. Retrieved 2023-02-28. When the first area code, 201, was introduced in New Jersey in 1951, phone-numbering experts thought there would be enough codes with a middle digit of '0' or '1' to last well into the next century
  3. ^ AT&T (1955), Notes on Nationwide Dialing
  4. ^ Department of Operation and Engineering (September 1956). "Section II". Notes on Distance Dialing. American Telephone and Telegraph Company.
  5. ^ "Brooklyn Telephone Directory 1957". New York Telephone Company. 1956-10-01. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  6. ^ Sinks, William A. (Winter 1959). "New Numbers for Tomorrow's Telephones". Bell Telephone Monthly. 38 (4): 6.
  7. ^ "Area Code Stickers To Go On 'Phones". Hackettstown, NJ: The Hackettstown Gazette. 1961-07-06. p. 3.
  8. ^ Nationwide Direct Distance Dialing (company guide). New Jersey Bell. 1961-03-26. p. 2.
  9. ^ "New Jersey Bell customers will begin using area codes". Redbank Register. 1963-06-20.
  10. ^
    Verizon Communications. 2007-11-13. Archived from the original
    on 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  11. ^ Newman, Andy. "New Area Codes Introduced", The New York Times, June 2, 1997. Accessed January 23, 2008.
  12. The Record (Bergen County)
    , April 18, 2001. Accessed August 11, 2001. "The new New Jersey area codes – 551, 356, and 848 – were announced this week and will be introduced next year in the regions currently served by 201, 973, and 732, respectively."

External links

862/973, 908
North:
329
West:
973
 201/551 East:
718, 914, 917
South:
718, 917
New York area codes: 212/332/646, 315/680, 347/718/929, 363/516, 518/838, 585, 607, 631/934, 624/716, 329/845, 914, 917

40°52′04″N 74°26′16″W / 40.8678°N 74.4379°W / 40.8678; -74.4379

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