Area code 904
Area Code 904 is the telephone area code in use for most of the First Coast (northeast) region of the State of Florida, including all of the metropolitan area of Jacksonville. It includes all of Duval County, St. Johns County, Nassau County, Baker County and Clay County.
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History [edit]
The entire state of Florida was originally assigned Area Code 305 in 1947. Due to population growth, all of the northern half of Florida, including the Florida Panhandle, was assigned area code 904 in 1965.[1]
This lasted though 1988, when the East Coast of Florida from Palm Beach County north through Brevard County, as well as the Orlando metropolitan area was assigned to Area Code 407.[2]
In 1995, the area of central Florida surrounding Gainesville was removed from Area Code 904 by the creation of Area Code 352.[3] Later in 1995 year, the Florida Public Service Commission planned a three-way split to relieve the overcrowded 904 Area Code. In this plan, the Jacksonville area would move into the proposed Area Code 234 while the Daytona Beach LATA would be assigned to Area Code 386. The Pensacola, Panama City, and Tallahassee areaa would have kept Area Code 904.
Complaints from the public and businesses in the Jacksonville region, as well as opposition from NANPA and the Federal Communications Commission, compelled the Florida PSC to change course and adopt a different plan. The panhandle was assigned to Area Code 850, with Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Tallahassee, and the surrounding areas keeping Area Code 904.[4]
With the advent of cellular telephones, facsimile machines, pocket pagers, and other telephone devices, Area Code 904 was projected to use up its available telephone exchanges within four years. Rapid population growth around Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, and Tallahassee required separate area codes for each. However, when plans were being drawn up for this division, it was discovered that the northwestern portion of old Area Code 904 had too much traffic to stay in this Area Code, even though it was not growing as fast as were the metropolitan area of Jacksonville. Although this northwestern portion of Area Code 904 was not nearly large enough for its own area code, the two area codes nearest to Area Code 904, 850 and 352, were growing too quickly to absorb this portion of Area Code 904.
This left only three viable solutions - to split the Jacksonville metropolitan area into two area codes, to overlay 904 with a second code, or make two noncontiguous sections of a new area code. The Florida Public Service Commission, which oversees area code assignments in Florida, opted for the third solution, and these two noncontiguous sections became Area Code 386 in July, 2001. There were some members on the commission who saw this odd splitting of Area Code 386 as a temporary measure, but it is believed that Area Code 386 will retain its odd situation until well beyond 2030. Despite the rapid growth of the Daytona Beach metropolitan area, it is not close to exhausting its area code.[5]
See also [edit]
External links [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ NANP Area Code History: 1960 - 1969 - Accessed December 27, 2007
- ^ NANP Area Code History: 1980 - 1989 - Accessed December 27, 2007
- ^ "Area Code 904 is in Florida". Area Code Help. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ Fineout, Gary. "Signals are switched in battle for 904 area code". Tallahassee Democrat (areacode-info.com).
- ^ http://www.nanpa.com/pdf/NRUF/April_2010_NPA_Exhaust_Projections.pdf
| Florida area codes: 239, 305, 321, 352, 386, 407, 561, 727, 754, 772, 786, 813, 850, 863, 904, 941, 954 | ||
|---|---|---|
| North: 912 | ||
| West: 386 | area code 904 | East: Atlantic Ocean |
| South: 386, 352 | ||
| Georgia area codes: 229, 404, 470, 478, 678, 706, 762, 770, 912 | ||
