Area codes 201 and 551
Title: Area codes 201 and 551
Subject: List of North American Numbering Plan area codes, New York metropolitan area, Area codes 862 and 973, Hoboken, New Jersey, Area codes in New Jersey
Collection: 1947 Introductions, 2001 Introductions, Area Codes in New Jersey, Area Codes in the United States, Bergen County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey, Hudson County, New Jersey, Passaic County, New Jersey
Map of area code 201
Area codes 201 and 551 are the North American telephone area code for the state of New Jersey covering most of Hudson and Bergen counties. Major cities in the area code include Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Hackensack, Secaucus, Englewood and Englewood Cliffs. 201 is the historical area code, first established, while 551 is an overlay covering the same area.
201 was the first original area code when AT&T devised the North American Numbering Plan in 1947. It originally covered the entire state of New Jersey.[1][2] Having only one area code for the entire state which is the most densely populated state in the US, was unusual. New Jersey is centered between the New York metropolitan area in the north east and the Delaware Valley with the suburbs of Philadelphia in the south west.
In 1958, 201 was restricted to northern New Jersey, when southern New Jersey, including the state capital, Trenton, the southern Jersey Shore and the New Jersey side of the Delaware Valley, was assigned area code 609.[3] For the next 33 years, area code 201 served Bergen, Hudson, Ocean, Essex, Union, Morris, Passaic, Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, Sussex and Warren counties--a region largely coextensive with the New Jersey side of the New York City area.
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 split from 201; it primarily serves the north-central regions of the state.[4]
Within 4 years, 201 was close to exhaustion once again due to the proliferation of cell phones and Internet dial-up connections. The supply of numbers was smaller because the entire northern half of the state is a single LATA, meaning numbers in 908 were not available for use. On June 1, 1997, Essex and Passaic counties, home to Newark and Paterson, respectively, the state's largest and third-largest cities, as well as Morris and Sussex counties, were split as a separate plan area as area code 973.[4][5] 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.
The 1997 split was intended as a long-term solution. However, demand for new numbers continued in Hudson and Bergen counties. It was debated whether 201 should be split again, or whether an overlay area code should be added. Overlays were a new concept at the time, and were somewhat controversial because they required implementation of ten-digit dialing. However, Verizon, the dominant telephone company in New Jersey, opted for an overlay to spare its customers the burden of having to change telephone numbers for the second time in a decade.
Area code 551 was created in 2001 to overlay 201, along with area codes 862 and 848, which overlay area codes 973 and 732, respectively.[6] With the implementation of the overlay area code on December 1, 2001, 10-digit dialing became mandatory.
Area code 201 was the first area code in which Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) service became available. In 1951, the first direct-dialed long distance call was made from Englewood, New Jersey to Alameda, California.[2]
List of North American Numbering Plan area codes
North American Numbering Plan
List of original NANP area codes
^ 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 Inc., 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.
^ Newman, Andy. "New Area Codes Introduced", The New York Times, June 2, 1997. Accessed January 23, 2008.
^ McKay, Martha. "New Jersey Assigned New Area Codes.", 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."
NANPA Area Code Map of New Jersey
List of exchanges, 201 Area Code
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
New York area codes: 212, 315, 347, 516, 518, 585, 607, 631, 646, 716, 718, 845, 914, 917, 929
Area codes in the United States
Area codes in New Jersey
Bergen County, New Jersey
Hudson County, New Jersey
Passaic County, New Jersey
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Paterson, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, Camden, New Jersey
World Wide Web, File sharing, Instant messaging, Email, IPv6
Englewood, New Jersey
United States Census Bureau, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, Democratic Party (United States), New Jersey Legislature
Canada, New York City, United States, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago
Pennsylvania, Delaware Valley, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, New York City
California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Ontario
New York metropolitan area
New York, Queens, Manhattan, New York City, New Jersey
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Bergen County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey
Hudson County, New Jersey, United States Census Bureau, The New York Times, New Jersey, New York City
Area code 609, Area code 856, Area code 908, Area codes 201 and 551, Area codes 732 and 848