Area Code Trivia

When Area Codes were assigned in 1947 there were 77 given to USA and 9 to Canada. By the breakup of Bell in mid 1980's there were 130.

1. A total of 34 stats & D.C. (40% of US population) got a single area code. The remaining 14 states were given multiple areas codes (AK & HI weren't in the original group). Only one state received five area codes. What state was that?




2. The four simplest area codes to dial with a rotary phone were 212, 201, 202, and 301. Who got these area codes?



3. The following states were given 3-5 Area Codes apiece (Iowa was not so much for population, but for geographic area). What was the most populous state to be given a single area code? Hint: very densely populated.

5 New York
4 Pennsylvania
4 Illinois
4 Ohio
4 Texas
3 California
3 Michigan
3 Iowa



4. By 1994 there were 148 area codes and one special non-geographic area code (456). No more area codes could be added under the rules at the time.
What changed allowing them to double the number of area codes in a few years?



5. There are a total of 10 states & DC that as of today have not added a second area code since 1947. They are also the states that are small enough that they have only 1 or 2 congressmen (excluding Alaska and Hawaii which weren't states in 1947). How many of the ten small states can you name?

212 was for all of NYC at first, not just Manhattan.

Quote: AZDuffman

212 was for all of NYC at first, not just Manhattan.

My error. It's hard to believe that a population of 8 million only needed one area code. I think only 800 exchanges are possible (since you can't start with zero or one) so there are only about 8 million possible combinations of 7-digit dialing.

But they held on with single area code until 1984 when the 718 area code was created.

Quote: Pacomartin

My error. It's hard to believe that a population of 8 million only needed one area code. I think only 800 exchanges are possible (since you can't start with zero or one) so there are only about 8 million possible combinations of 7-digit dialing.

8 million for a city of 8 million would have been plenty. Figure one home phone per 4 people is only 2 million home phones, even if you figure an equal number of business lines still only 4 million numbers needed.

Of course this is back when you only used one number for the entire family and had at most 3 phones in the house on one number. Remember when having a "second line" was a sign of being "rich?"

Quote: AZDuffman

Of course this is back when you only used one number for the entire family and had at most 3 phones in the house on one number. Remember when having a "second line" was a sign of being "rich?"

The number of active cell phones will reach 7.3 billion later this year. It should be plenty considering the world population is 7.17 billion.

You have probably seen the pictures of the first mobile phone in 1973.

Quote: Pacomartin

The number of active cell phones will reach 7.3 billion later this year. It should be plenty considering the world population is 7.17 billion.

A lot of people have two phones. Some have even more. I carried two for a while, then I decided it made no sense to have a personal phone and a work phone.

Zero was the hardest number to dial. One was the easiest.

That's why NYC got 212, Chicago got 312, Los Angeles got 213, Detroit 313, Philadelphia 215, Dallas 214, Pittsburgh 412, and St. Louis 314.

They were the easiest.

Quote: boymimbo

Zero was the hardest number to dial. One was the easiest.

That's why NYC got 212, Chicago got 312, Los Angeles got 213, Detroit 313, Philadelphia 215, Dallas 214, Pittsburgh 412, and St. Louis 314.

They were the easiest.

Not just "easiest" to dial but least wear for the mechanical equipment in use at the time. When a state got a code to itself the middle number was "0." All those clicks added up on equipment, so least clicks to most dialed places.

I remember when 716 was being split, Buffalo and Rochester had a mini-battle over it. The story made The Tonight Show and after reading it Leno put his fist up and yelled, "ATTICA, ATTICA!" to show how silly it had gotten by that time.

You could dial the following numbers (remember you couldn't dial the area code first)

Nothing starting with 0 or 1 (2,000,000)
Nothing with a 0 or 1 as the 2nd digit (1,600,000) of the remainder.

So each area code had 6.4 million possible numbers.

220-0000 would be the first available one.
299-9999 would be the 800,000th availble number

... and so on.

This changed in '73, when 213 expanded to 7 digit calling with the 1 required for any long distance call.

The first area code without a zero or one as the middle digit was introduced in 1995 with 630 and 334 in January of that year.

Quote: boymimbo

So each area code had 6.4 million possible numbers.

I was thinking it was 8 million. I forgot about the exchange couldn't have a 0 or 1 as a second digit

Quote: boymimbo

The first area code without a zero or one as the middle digit was introduced in 1995 with 630 and 334 in January of that year.

That was trivia question #4 .

The middle digit of an area code had to be zero or one.
That limited you to 8 possible leading digits (no 0 or 1), 2 possible middle digits, and 10 possible third digits (8*2*10=160) .

But also the twelve area codes 200, 300, 400, 500 and 211,311,411,..,911 that were excluded leaving only 148 possibilities.

By 1994 they had used all 148 of those combinations. There was also a '456' area code that was non-geographic. Presumably that was a test so they could see if the system could handle expansion. Now they are up to 375 area codes, and you have no idea where the phone call is coming from anymore.

Seinfeld did a whole episode where area codes in NYC was a major theme.