Area code 201 is a telephone area
code for the state of New Jersey covering
Hudson and Bergen Counties,
and part of Essex and Passaic Counties. It is overlaid with area code 551.
The 201 area code was the first area code to be assigned in the United States, as part
of the North American Numbering Plan.[1][2] While it was part of the original set of area codes assigned to the U.S. in 1947, this area
code was not placed into service until 1951. In that year, the first direct-dialed long
distance call was made from Englewood, New Jersey to Alameda, California.[2] Until 1963, it was the only area code serving New Jersey; That year, the state split the area
code, with the southern portion of the state becoming area code 609.[3]
After the split in 1963, Area code 201 served the northern, most populous counties in the state: Essex, Bergen, Hudson,
Union, Morris, Passaic,
Middlesex, Monmouth,
Warren, and Sussex
counties. New Jersey's southern counties, including the Jersey Shore, as well as the
Philadelphia and Wilmington,
Delaware suburbs (in New Jersey) were served by 609.
As the shore region of New Jersey grew during the 1980s, the northeastern section of the state lost sizeable chunks of its
population due to the decline of New Jersey's major cities, including Newark,
Paterson, Clifton, and
Elizabeth. On June 8, 1991, area code 908 split off from 201; it primarily serves the shore and
central regions of the state, such as Elizabeth.[4] (However, this geographic area code split effectively divided 11 New Jersey communities in
half, with one-half having the old area code and the other half having the new.) The northernmost counties continued to use 201,
while the southern Pine Barrens area kept 609, which is the area code of
Trenton, the state's capital.
During the mid-1990s, businesses began to flourish once again in North Jersey, while
cell phones and internet dial-up connections
proliferated. In response to the pressure for the addition of more telephone numbers, New Jersey added more area codes, going
from three to six. In 1997, Essex and Passaic Counties, home to Newark and
Paterson respectively (the state's first and third-largest cities), as well as the
more rural northwestern counties of New Jersey, Morris and Sussex, were broken away from area code 201, forming the new area
code, 973.[4] Hudson County and Bergen County, the state's two northeastern counties (as well as being two
of the state's most densely populated counties) and the closest two counties to New York
City, became the last remaining counties in the state to be served by area code 201.
As Hudson and Bergen Counties developed further, and even more telephone numbers were demanded, it was debated whether 201
should split again, or if an overlay area code should be added instead. The latter option was chosen, to avoid the costs and
frustration associated with splitting an area code. However, with the implementation of the overlay area code, 10-digit dialing became mandatory. Area code 551 was created in
2001, along with area codes 862 and 848 which
overlay area codes 973 and 732 respectively. Area
code 201 was mentioned in the hip hop song "Area Codes" by Ludacris and Nate Dogg, as part of the phrase "314, 201, too much
green, too much fun."
| State of New Jersey Area
Codes: 201, 551, 609, 732, 848,
856, 862, 908, 973 |
|
North: 845 |
|
| West: 862/973 |
201/551 |
East: 212/646, 347/718,
914, 917 |
|
South: 347/718, 917 |
|
| State of New York Area
Codes: 212, 315, 347, 516, 518,
585, 607, 631, 646, 716,
718, 845, 914, 917 |
References
- ^ Now you can
call, if your calls don't work some business lines aren't set up to all to new area codes., The Virginian-Pilot, November 1, 1995. Accessed June 8, 2007. "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."
- ^ a b 1951: First Direct-Dial Transcontinental Telephone Call, AT&T, accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ About Verizon New
Jersey: Years 1931 to 1969, Verizon Communications, accessed May 12, 2007.
- ^ a b About Verizon New
Jersey: Years 1985 to 1998, Verizon Communications, accessed May 12, 2007.
See also
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