Area code 785
Area Code 785 is the area code for telephone exchanges in 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 cities of Kansas City, Lenexa, Olathe and Leavenworth.
History of area codes in Kansas
Despite a relatively small population, Kansas was scheduled to receive two area codes under the orginal 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.
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 origianl plan. The southern half of the state (Dodge City, Emporia, Garden City, Wichita) would receive 316, while the northern half (Kansas City, Topeka, Lawrence, Salina, Hays) would receive 913. All long-distance calls using area codes would not be implemented until late in 1951.
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. 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. At 12:01 a.m. on October 3, 1998, the 785 area code became mandatory in thew new calling area.
Major cities in area code 785
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. The counties of Linn, Miami, Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth, as well as eastern portions of Jefferson and Atchison counties, remain in area code 913.
External links
- NANPA - Kansas Area Code Map
- Area Code History at areacode.info
- 1947 Nuumbering Plan at areacode.info
See also
| North: 308, 402 | ||
| West: 719, 970 | area code 785 | East: 816, 913 |
| South: 620 | ||
| Colorado area codes: 303/720/983, 719, 970 | ||
| Missouri area codes: 314/557, 417, 573/235, 636, 660, 816/975 | ||
| Nebraska area codes: 308, 402/531 | ||