Area codes 610, 484, and 835 are telephone
overlay 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 the eastern and southeastern regions of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes regions to the west of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and the cities
Allentown,
Bethlehem, and
Reading. It includes much of the
Delaware Valley, including almost all of
Delaware County, most of the
Philadelphia Main Line, and all of the
Lehigh Valley.
History
Area code 610 was assigned on January 8, 1994, in an
area code split from numbering plan area
215, which had been the entire southeast quadrant of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
since 1947.
Permissive dialing of both 215 and 610 continued until the morning of January 7, 1995. It was Pennsylvania's first new area code since the definition of the area code system in 1947.
Three exchanges which would have switched to 610 were instead switched to
717, the area code for most of the eastern half of the state outside of the lower
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
and
Lehigh Valleys. The central office prefixes were 267 at
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, 445 at
Terre Hill, and 484 at
Adamstown with 267 being renumbered as 717-336 because 717-267 was already in use at
Chambersburg. These exchanges were all served by independent, non-
Bell
A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...
telephone companies, which sought to consolidate their eastern Pennsylvania customers into one area code and would have had to change area codes regardless.
This was intended as a long-term solution, but further growth in the region over the subsequent five years, and the proliferation of cell phones and pagers, spurred the introduction of area code 484 as an overlay for the 610 region on June 5, 1999, along with the introduction of mandatory
ten-digit dialing.
Area code 835 was intended as an additional code for the 610/484 overlay, as announced by the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in May 2000, and to be implemented in 2001. However, newly developed, more efficient
number pooling
Telephone number pooling, thousands-block number pooling, or just number pooling, is a method of allocating telephony numbering space of the North American Numbering Plan in the United States. The method allocates telephone numbers in blocks of 1,0 ...
measures were introduced instead, eliminating the immediate need for the new area code. The Commission formally withdrew plans for the new code on June 23, 2005, although the code remained reserved for later use within Pennsylvania if necessary. Area code 835 was eventually approved by the Public Utility Commission on December 2, 2021. Assignment of central office codes in the new area code began on September 2, 2022.
When area codes were introduced in 1947, their middle digit was either 0 or 1. In 1994, area code 610 was the last area code assigned with digit 1 in that position. The next new area codes assigned in 1995 (
334 in
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, and
360 in Washington state) were the first
interchangeable area codes.
Prior usage of 610 for TWX
In 1962,
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
assigned NPA 610 for conversion to dial service of the Teletypewriter Exchange Service in Canada. While Telex II use of area codes was terminated in 1981 in the U.S. by
Western Union, Canadian use of 610 continued until October 31, 1993, when it was exchanged in a
flash cut for
area code 600 for non-geographic applications.
Service area
The following counties and
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
are in the numbering plan area:
Counties
*
Berks County: The entire county except the extreme western portions (in 717), extreme northern portions (in 570) and the
Hereford
Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...
area, which is served by the
Pennsburg exchange in the 215/267 area code.
*
Bucks County: The northeastern portion of the county is served by the
Coopersburg,
Springtown,
Riegelsville, and
Ferndale exchanges.
*
Carbon County: The southern portion of the county is served by 377
Lehighton and 824 and 826
Palmerton exchanges. The western end of the county, including
Lansford and
Summit Hill, use 610 and 484 for mobile and digital numbers while retaining 570 and 645 for conventional phone numbers.
*
Chester County: The entire county except the extreme western portion, which is served by the 717 and 442
Gap exchange.
*
Delaware County: The entire county
*
Lancaster County: Only the far southeastern portion of the county centered on
Christiana. The rest of county uses the 717 area code.
*
Lebanon County:
Newmanstown is the only Lebanon County municipality to use 610 as its area code, specifically 610-589-XXXX, which is also used by
Womelsdorf.
*
Lehigh County: The entire county except the southwestern portion, which is served by the
Pennsburg exchange in the 215 and 267 overlay.
*
Monroe County: The far southwestern portion of the county
*
Montgomery County: The southern and western portions of the county. Other areas of the county are served by the 215 and 267 area codes.
*
New Castle County, Delaware
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
- A few residences along West Ridge Road and Sterling Avenue in
Claymont, Delaware use the 610, 484, and 835 exchange.
*
Northampton County: The entire county except the northeastern portions, including
Portland and
Upper Mount Bethel Township are in the 570 area code.
*
Schuylkill County: The southern and eastern fringes of the county, including portions of
East Brunswick, West Brunswick, and
West Penn Township, are served by the
Lehighton,
Germansville, and
Kempton exchanges.
Port Clinton is assigned to 610 and 484; however, the majority of it is in 570 and 272, and even smaller portions, including
Tower City, is in 717.
Towns and cities
*
Allentown
*
Bethlehem
*
Catasauqua
*
Chadds Ford
*
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
*
Christiana
*
Downingtown
*
Easton
*
Emmaus
*
Exton
*
Folsom
*
Gap
*
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
*
Havertown
*
Kennett Square
*
Kutztown
*
Lansdowne
*
Lehighton
*
Macungie
*
Malvern
*
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
*
Newtown Square
*
North Catasauqua
*
Northampton
Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
*
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 ...
*
Palmerton
*
Paoli
*
Pottstown
*
Reading
*
Shillington
*
Sinking Spring
*
Upper Darby
*
West Chester
*
Whitehall Township
*
Willistown
*
Wind Gap
*
Wyomissing
See also
*
List of North American Numbering Plan area codes
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) divides the territories of its members into geographic numbering plan areas (NPAs). Each NPA is identified by one or more numbering plan area codes (''NPA codes'', or ''area code
A telephone numbering plan ...
*
List of Pennsylvania area codes
This is a list of telephone area codes of Pennsylvania.
In 1947, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company divided Pennsylvania into four numbering plan areas (NPAs) and assigned distinct area codes for each. Since 1995, several relief actions ...
References
External links
North American Numbering Plan Administration
{{coord, 40.086, -75.357, display=title
610, 484, and 835
610, 484, and 835
Berks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Monroe County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
Telecommunications-related introductions in 1994
Telecommunications-related introductions in 1999
Telecommunications-related introductions in 2022