Area codes 256 and 938 are 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 ...

s 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 ...

(NANP) for North Alabama, as well as some eastern portions of the state. The two area codes form an

overlay plan 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 ...

for the same numbering plan area. Area code 256 was created in 1998, and 938 was added in 2010.

History

Area code 256 was created on March 23, 1998, in an

area code split In telecommunications, an area code split is the practice of introducing a new telephone area code by geographically dividing an existing numbering plan area (NPA), and assigning area codes to the resulting divisions, but retaining the existing a ...

from

area code 205 Year 205 ( CCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 958 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 205 for this year h ...

. A permissive dialing period, that permitted time to reprogram computers, cell phones, pagers and fax machines, allowed the use of 205 through September 28, 1998. In March 2009, the Alabama Public Service Commission announced that the state's first all-services overlay area code, 938, would be added to the area of the 256 area code "sometime in 2011". As a result,

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 ...

was implemented for all numbers in the area with voluntary compliance beginning on November 7, 2009, and mandatory use by June 5, 2010, instead of dialing 7 digits. The 938 area code took effect on July 10, 2010. This timing roughly coincided with the end of the originally projected 12-year "life span" of the original 256 area code.

Service area

The numbering plan area comprises north and northeast Alabama and includes the following metropolitan areas: * Huntsville Metropolitan Area * Decatur Metropolitan Area * The Shoals * Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area * Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Area

Counties

* Blount County (part, near Arab on Brindlee Mountain, most of Blount County is in

) * Calhoun County (part, some of Calhoun County is in

) * Cherokee County * Clay County * Cleburne County * Colbert County * Coosa County * Cullman County *

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

* Elmore County (part, most of Elmore County is in

area code 334 Area code 334 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for southeastern Alabama. It was created on January 15, 1995, in an area code split from area code 205. It was the first new area code in Alabama since the announce ...

) * Etowah County (part, some of Etowah County is in

) * Franklin County (part, some of Franklin County is in

) * Jackson County * Lawrence County * Lauderdale County * Limestone County * Madison County * Marshall County * Morgan County * Randolph County (part, some of Randolph County is in

) * Saint Clair County (part, the Steele area. Most of Saint Clair County is in

) * Talladega County (part, the Lincoln area is in

) * Tallapoosa County (part, some of Tallapoosa County is in

) * Winston County (part, most of Winston County is in

)

Cities

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

* Alexander City * Anniston *

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

* Ardmore * Ashland *

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

* Attalla * Boaz *

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

* Cedar Bluff * Centre * Collinsville * Crossville * Courtland * Cullman * Dadeville * Decatur * Edwardsville * Falkville *

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* Fort Payne * Gadsden * Gaylesville *

Guntersville Guntersville (previously known as Gunter's Ferry and later Gunter's Landing) is a city and the county seat of Marshall County, Alabama, Marshall County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of th ...

* Hammondville * Hanceville * Hartselle * Hazel Green * Heflin * Henagar * Hobson City * Hokes Bluff * Huntsville *

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

* Leesburg * Littleville * Lineville * Madison * Mentone * Moulton *

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

* Paint Rock *

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

* Priceville * Rainbow City * Rainsville * Red Bay * Reece City * Rockford * Russellville * Saks * Scottsboro *

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

* Somerville * Stevenson * Sylacauga * Talladega * Tanner * Triana * Tuscumbia * Valley Head * Weaver * Wedowee

References

External links