In 1947, when the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) devised the first nationwide
telephone numbering plan and assigned the
original North American area codes, the state of California was divided into three numbering plan areas: 213,
415, and
916, for the southern, central, and northern parts of the state, respectively. The area served by 213 extended from the
Mexican border to the
Central Coast. In 1950, the boundary between 213 and 415 was realigned toward the north, requiring the southern portion of the
Central Valley, including
Bakersfield, to change from area code 415 to 213. As a result of southern California's rapid expansion of telephone service during the second half of the 20th century, area code 213 was split five times in the period from 1951 to 1998. In the 21st century
area code overlays have become more practical.
1951–1998: Area code splits The first split became necessary in 1951, when most of the southern and eastern portion, including
San Diego and most of
Orange County, were assigned
area code 714. In 1957, 213 was restricted to
Los Angeles County, with most of the northern and western portions receiving
area code 805. This configuration was stable for almost three decades, until 1984, when the
San Fernando Valley and the
San Gabriel Valley received
area code 818, thus making Los Angeles one of the first major cities in the US to be split into two numbering plan areas—New York City experienced this later in the same year. In 1991,
West Los Angeles and the
South Bay were assigned
area code 310. On June 13, 1998, the Los Angeles NPA was divided once more, to create area code 323. Area code 213 was kept by Los Angeles exchanges
1 (Downtown/Echo Park),
7 (South Park/Exposition Park) and
10 (Westlake/Koreatown), while exchanges
2 (Silverlake/Los Feliz),
3 (Eagle Rock/Highland Park),
4 (El Sereno/Lincoln Heights),
5 (Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles),
6 (Bell/Vernon/South Gate),
8 (South Central/South LA),
9 (South LA/Hyde Park/Athens),
11 (West Adams/Jefferson Park),
12 (Leimert Park/Baldwin Hills),
13 (Hancock Park/Fairfax District) and
14 (Hollywood/Hollywood Hills) switched to area code 323. This split made 213 one of the geographically smallest numbering plan areas in the nation, covering only
Downtown Los Angeles and its immediately adjoining neighborhoods, such as
Chinatown. Completely surrounding 213, 323 included most of the remainder of central Los Angeles, including Hollywood, as well as several neighboring cities, including
Bell,
Huntington Park and
Montebello.
Since 2017: Overlays Despite Southern California's continued growth and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, 213 was not projected to exhaust until 2050. In contrast, 323 was projected to exhaust in 2017. This change returned 213 to some areas that had used it for more than half a century prior to 1998. ==Service area==