Area code 502 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 an integrated 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, World Numbering Zone ...

for north-central

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The

numbering plan area The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated 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, World Numbering Zone ...

includes the city of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, its suburbs, and the state capital, Frankfort.

History

Area code 502 was one of the first established in October 1947, initially intended for the entire state of Kentucky. The eastern half of the state was assigned

area code 606 Area code 606 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the eastern half of south-central and the eastern part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Cities and towns in the numbering plan area include Ashland, Morehead, Haza ...

in 1954, and the western half was assigned

area code 270 Area codes 270 and 364 are telephone overlay area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the Commonwealth of Kentucky's western and south central counties. Area code 270 was assigned in a split of numbering plan area 502 in 1999. ...

in 1999.

Service area

The numbering plan area comprises the following Kentucky counties. The boundary closely, but not exactly, tracks county lines. * Anderson County * Bullitt County * Carroll County * Franklin County * Henry County * Jefferson County * Nelson County * Oldham County * Owen County * Scott County * Shelby County * Spencer County * Trimble County Parts of Hardin and Meade counties are also served by this area code, specifically: *The

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

installation, located primarily in Hardin County, also spreads into Meade, and Bullitt counties. *The city of Muldraugh, which straddles the Meade–Hardin County line and is surrounded by Fort Knox. *The city of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in Hardin County and its surrounding area, which is separated from the rest of Hardin County by Fort Knox. Besides Louisville and Frankfort, other cities within the 502 area code boundary include Georgetown, Shelbyville, and

Bardstown Bardstown is a home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Nelson County. Bardstown is named for the pioneering Bard brothers. David Bard obtained a ...

. Georgetown is a long-distance call to other cities in the 502 area code, but is a free local call to Lexington, which is in the 859 area code. Current projections suggest that an additional area code will be necessary in north-central Kentucky by late 2026 or early 2027. An

overlay complex In telecommunications, an area code overlay complex is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to the same geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbe ...

involving 502 and a new area code has been recommended, which would necessitate

ten-digit dialing Ten-digit dialing is a telephone dialing procedure in the countries and territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is the practice of including the area code of a telephone number when Dialling (telephony), dialing to initiate a t ...

in the Louisville area.

References

External links

502 502 may refer to: *502 (number), a number *AD 502 __NOTOC__ Year 502 (Roman numerals, DII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufius Magnus Faustus Av ...

Telecommunications-related introductions in 1947 1947 establishments in Kentucky {{LouisvilleMSA-stub

History

Service area

See also

References

External links