Area codes 281, 346, 713, and 832
North American telephone area codes 281, 346, 713, and 832 serve Houston, Texas, and its environs.
The main area code, 713, was one of the original area codes established in October 1947. It originally covered the entire southeastern quadrant of Texas, from the Sabine River to the Brazos Valley.
On March 19, 1983, the area was divided for the first time. The immediate Houston area retained area code 713 while the northern, eastern and western portions of the old 713 territory became area code 409.
On November 2, 1996, area 713 was split again, with most of Houston's suburbs switching to area code 281. The dividing line roughly followed Beltway 8. Generally, Houston itself and most of the suburbs inside the beltway kept area code 713, while everything outside it became area 281. Area code 713 was retained by all cellphone customers in the Houston area.
This was intended as a long-term solution, but within two years both area codes 281 and 713 were close to exhaustion due to Houston's rapid growth and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers. On January 16, 1999, area code 832 was created as an overlay for the entire Houston area. At the same time, area code 281 was also turned into an overlay for the entire region, effectively erasing the 713–281 boundary. The result was three area codes covering the Houston metro area, with ten-digit dialing required for all calls.
On May 9, 2013, the Texas Public Utility Commission announced that area code 346 would be added to the Houston area as an overlay. This new area code went into service on July 1, 2014.[1]
Locations
Counties served by these area codes:
Towns and cities served by these area codes:
- Alvin
- Arcola
- Bacliff
- Baytown
- Bellaire
- Brookshire
- Brookside Village
- Bunker Hill Village
- Channelview
- Cleveland
- Clodine
- Crosby
- Cypress
- Deer Park
- El Lago
- Dickinson
- Fresno
- Friendswood
- Fulshear
- Galena Park
- Hedwig Village
- Highlands
- Hilshire Village
- Hitchcock
- Hockley
- Houston
- Huffman
- Humble
- Hunters Creek Village
- Iowa Colony
- Jacinto City
- Jersey Village
- Katy
- Kemah
- Kingwood
- Klein
- La Porte
- League City
- Liverpool
- Magnolia
- Manvel
- Meadows Place
- Missouri City
- Mont Belvieu
- New Caney
- Pasadena
- Pattison
- Pearland
- Pinehurst
- Piney Point Village
- Plum Grove
- Porter
- Richmond
- Romayor
- Rosenberg
- Rosharon
- Rye
- Santa Fe
- Seabrook
- Simonton
- South Houston
- Splendora
- Spring
- Spring Valley Village
- Stafford
- Sugar Land
- Taylor Lake Village
- The Woodlands
- Thompsons
- Tomball
- Webster
- West University Place
See also
References
- ↑ Hlavaty, Craig (May 9, 2013). "Houston gets new area code to keep from running out of phone numbers". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
Further reading
- Hlavaty, Craig. "Wait, area code pride is still a thing?" (Archive) Houston Chronicle. May 9, 2013.
External links
Texas area codes: 210, 214, 254, 281, 325, 346, 361, 409, 430, 432, 469, 512, 682, 713, 737, 806, 817, 830, 832, 903, 915, 936, 940, 956, 972, 979 | ||
---|---|---|
North: 936 | ||
West: 979 | Area codes 281/346/713/832 | East: 409 |
South: Gulf of Mexico |