![Missouri area code map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Missouri_area_code_map.gif)
Area code 573 is a telephone
area code
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...
in the
North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international callin ...
(NANP) for most of the eastern half of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
outside the immediate
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
area, including the state capital of
Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...
, as well as
Columbia,
Cape Girardeau
Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...
,
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
,
Rolla, and
Sikeston
Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way ...
. The numbering plan area (NPA) extends across half of the width of the state, with the northeastern tip near the northeastern corner of the state, the
Lake of the Ozarks
Lake of the Ozarks is a reservoir created by impounding the Osage River in the northern part of the Ozarks in central Missouri. Parts of three smaller tributaries to the Osage are included in the impoundment: the Niangua River, Grandglaize Creek ...
at the western tip and
Doniphan as the southwestern tip. It also serves all of southeastern Missouri (including the
Missouri Bootheel
The Missouri Bootheel is a salient located in the southeasternmost part of the U.S. state of Missouri, extending south of 36°30′ north latitude, so called because its shape in relation to the rest of the state resembles the heel of a boot. ...
area) and areas adjacent to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. The area code was created on January 7, 1996, in a split of
area code 314
Area codes 314 and 557 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in the U.S. state of Missouri, serving St. Louis and most of its inner-ring suburbs in neighboring St. Louis County. The numbering plan area is bordered ...
, which was reduced to the St. Louis metropolitan area in Missouri. The largest city of area code 573 is Columbia, home to the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
.
History
When the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
(AT&T) created a universal North American telephone numbering plan for
Operator Toll Dialing
Operator Toll Dialing was a telephone call routing and toll-switching system for the Bell System and the independent telephone companies in the United States and Canada that was developed in the 1940s. It automated the switching and billing of lo ...
in 1947, Missouri was divided into two numbering plan areas (NPAs), which received the area codes 314 and
816
__NOTOC__
Year 816 (Roman numerals, DCCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* October 5 – King Louis the Pious (son of Charlemagne) is crow ...
. Area code 314 identified the eastern part of the state, from the northeast corner of the state at the Illinois border along a southwestern line near
Columbia and
Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...
to the center of the state, and continuing southeast into the east side of the
West Plains area to the Arkansas state line. The largest city of the area code was
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
on the Mississippi river in the east.
By 1995, the telephone subscriber base experience substantial growth, threatening the exhaustion of the numbering pool. Relief planning entailed the division of the numbering plan area to create a new area code, 573, for most areas outside of the St. Louis metropolitan area, which would retained area code 314. The area code split became effective at day end of January 7, 1996, with a permissive dialing period commencing until July 7, 1996, during which the new numbering plan area could be dialed with both area codes.
On May 1, 2022, the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved an all-services distributed
overlay plan
Overlay may refer to:
Computers
*Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network
*Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application
*Another term for exec, replacing one process ...
for the 573 service area.
On June 17, 2022, the NANP Administrator assigned area code 235 for the relief action, beginning with a permissive dialing period of six months on August 26, 2023.
Service area
Major Cities
*
Columbia
*
Cape Girardeau
Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...
*
Farmington
Farmington may refer to:
Places Canada
*Farmington, British Columbia
* Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation)
United States
*Farmington, Arkansas
*Farmington, California
*Farmington, Connecticut
*Farmington, Delaware
* Farmington, Georgia
* ...
*
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
*
Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...
*
Rolla
*
Poplar Bluff
Poplar Bluff is a medium city in Butler County in Southeast Missouri, United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as "The Gateway to the Ozarks" among other names. The population was 16,225 at the 2020 census. The Poplar B ...
*
Sikeston
Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way ...
Other Cities
*
Camdenton
*
Centralia
Centralia may refer to:
Places Australia
*Central Australia, sometimes called "Centralia"
Canada
* Centralia, Ontario
** RCAF Station Centralia, a former Royal Canadian Air Force training base
** Centralia (Essery Field) Aerodrome
United State ...
*
Dexter
*
Fulton
Fulton may refer to:
People
* Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship
* Fulton (surname)
Given name
* Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer
* Fult ...
*
Hermann
*
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
*
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
*
St. James
*
Sullivan
*
Waynesville
References
External links
{{Coord, 38.5, -92.0, format=dms, display=title, region:US-MO_scale:4000000
573
573
Telecommunications-related introductions in 1996
1996 establishments in Missouri