Area code 785

Area Code 785 is the area code for telephone exchanges in most of northern Kansas. The area code stretches from the Colorado state line on the west to the Missouri state line on the east, but does not include the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

The largest city (by population) covered by the area code is the state capital of Topeka.

History of area codes in Kansas

Despite a relatively small population, Kansas was scheduled to receive two area codes under the original North American Numbering Plan proposal from the Bell Telephone Company in 1946. Originally, area codes would follow sequentially based on geography, and under the 1946 plan, Kansas would receive area codes 617 and 618. [http://www.areacode-info.com/!history/1946.htm (1)]

In October 1947, the final plan was adopted, and Kansas still had its two area codes, although the numbers had been radically altered from the original plan. The southern half of the state (Dodge City, Emporia, Garden City, Wichita) would receive 316, while the northern half (Kansas City, Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, Salina, Hays) would receive 913. All long-distance calls using area codes would not be implemented until late in 1951.

The north-south division is unusual for Kansas, a state which usually sees east-west geographic disputes. However, since the state's biggest cities are in the eastern half (Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita), the north-south divide was necessary.

Kansas City's explosion necessitates a new code

The two area codes of Kansas remained constant for more than 40 years, but by the mid-1990s, the proliferation of cell phones, the population explosion in the Kansas City metropolitan area (most notably Johnson County), and deregulation due to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the exchanges for area code 913 were quickly being exhasuted.

Late in 1996, the Kansas Corporation Commission, which oversees telecommunications in the state, requested relief from the NANPA for the exchanges of area code 913, and on February 12, 1997, the NAPNA responded by splitting off most of northern Kansas from area code 913 into the new 785 area code. From July 20, 1997 through October 2, 1998, a period of permissive dialing was in use, allowing customers affected by the new area code to use either 913 or 785 when dialing long-distance. On October 3, 1998, the 785 area code became mandatory in the new calling area.

Major cities in area code 785

* Colby
* Goodland
* Hays
* Junction City
* Lawrence
* Manhattan
* Salina
* Topeka

Boundaries of area code 785

The boundary between 785 and area code 620, which covers southern Kansas outside of the Wichita metropolitan area, runs from west to east roughly following a path along K-4 and K-96. The code boundary dips along I-135 in McPherson County and continues east to just north of Emporia in Lyon County along the Kansas Turnpike. At this point, area code 785 reaches its easternmost boundary with the current boundary for area code 913, although a small portion of the northeast corner of Kansas across the Missouri River from St. Joseph, Missouri is part of 785.

The area code covers the entire counties of Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Jewell, Republic, Washington, Nemaha, Marshall, Brown, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Graham, Rooks, Osborne, Mitchell, Lincoln, Cloud, Ottawa, Clay, Riley, Pottawatomie, Jackson, Wallace, Logan, Gove, Trego, Ness, Rush, Ellis, Russell, Ellsworth, Saline, Dickinson, Geary, Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Osage, Douglas and Jefferson, as well as portions of Atchison, Coffey, Morris and McPherson counties.

The counties of Anderson, Linn, Miami, Johnson, Wyandotte, and Leavenworth remain wholly in area code 913.

One exception to this rule is the city of Elwood in Doniphan County, which retains the 913 area code while the remaining geographical balance of the county is under the 785 area code.

ee also

* [http://www.ruraltelephone.com/Document.aspx?id=2182 Rural Telephone (local service provider company)]

External links

* [http://www.areacode-info.com/!history/default.htm Area Code History]
* [http://www.areacode-info.com/!maps/images/NANP1947.gif1947 Area Code Assignment Plan]
* [http://www.areacode-info.com/relief/ac785.htm List of exchanges split off from Area Code 913 to Area Code 785]

Area Code Box 3|State=KS
This= area code 785| N= 308, 402
S= 620
E= 816, 913
W= 719, 970
S1=CO
S2=MO
S3=NE