Area code 314

Area code 314 serves the independent city of St. Louis and most of its suburbs in neighboring St. Louis County.

314 is surrounded by area code 636, which serves St. Louis' western suburbs, and area code 573 which serves all of eastern Missouri outside the core of the St. Louis area. Both of these area codes are totally within Missouri. Across the Mississippi River in Illinois, 314 is bordered by area code 618 making up the Metro East.

In Missouri, the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area spills across all of 314 and 636, as well as part of the northern portion of 573. In Illinois, Greater St. Louis takes in much of 618 and a small part of the southern area of area code 217.

History

Area code 314 was one of the original area codes created in October 1947. It originally covered most of the eastern half of Missouri, from the Illinois border to Jefferson City. It stretched along nearly the entire width of the state along the Mississippi River. It was split on January 7, 1996, when most of the western and southern portion was assigned to area code 573, leaving 314 to cover most of the Missouri side of the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The creation of 573 was intended to be a long-term solution. Within only two years, however, 314 was close to exhaustion once again due to the proliferation of cell phones, fax machines and pagers in the St. Louis core. The supply of numbers was further limited because the St. Louis LATA extends across much of the southern portion of Illinois, meaning several numbers that were part of Illinois' 618 weren't available for use. As a result, 314 was reduced to its current size on May 22, 1999, when area code 636 was assigned to St. Louis' outer western suburbs. Before the introduction of number portability, 314 was used for all cell phones on the Missouri side of the St. Louis area.

In 2000, the Missouri Public Service Commission announced plans to add area code 557 as an overlay to area code 314, but postponed the implementation date (May 5, 2002) indefinitely, when the commission determined no immediate need for more phone numbers; conservation measures such as number pooling was to blame.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sbc.com/gen/general?pid=1512
Missouri area codes: 314, 417, 573, 636, 660, 816
North: 636
West: 636 area code 314 East: 618
South: 573
Illinois area codes: 217, 224/847, 309, 312, 331/630, 618, 708, 773, 779/815, 872

Coordinates: 38°37′N 90°13′W / 38.62°N 90.22°W / 38.62; -90.22


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