Area code 863

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863 is the telephone area code which covers much of South Central Florida. Some of the larger and more notable cities in the 863 area code include Lakeland, Bartow, Winter Haven, Lake Wales, Avon Park, Sebring, Clewiston and Poinciana.

1 Description
2 History
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Description

Area code 863 covers the total area of the following counties: Polk, Hardee, Highlands, Glades, and Hendry. Almost the entire area, except a small sliver, of De Soto and Okeechobee County counties are in the 863 area code. A tiny nearly unpopulated area of St. Lucie county is also in the 863 area code.

[edit] History

The region currently belonging to Area code 863 was originally part of Area code 305, which covered the entire state of Florida. In 1953, the state of Florida split into three Area codes, the original being retained in the Southeast coast, Area code 904 allocated to Northern Florida, and Area code 813 given to the southwest coast including the current 863 area, as well as the entire southwest Florida coast, including the Tampa Bay area. The 813 area code was untouched for 43 years until 1996 when the 13 counties outside of the immediate Tampa Bay area (all but Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties were given the Area code 941. In 1999, the 863 area code took its current form as the coastal counties of the 941 Area code kept the 941 Area code, while the rest were given the new 863 area code.