AREA CODE 213

Area code 213, is one of the original California area codes established in October 1947 under the North American Numbering Plan. When implemented in 1947, it covered the bottom third of California from the Central Valley down to the Mexico border. It is interesting to note that when established the rotary phone was just coming into use and to keep the number of clicks" down to a minimum when long-distance dialing, Los Angeles was given six "clicks" (Each number represented a click, 1=1, 2=2, and so forth). Los Angeles by 1947, had become the third largest city in the United States, so had the privilege of being assigned a low "click" number. The other two cities that received low area codes were Chicago (312) and New York (212). Due to the tremendous growth that the Los Angeles region experienced along with increasing use of telephone driven devices (fax machines, cell phones and pagers) the 213 area code has been split five times, now being reduced to just a few dense square miles of the downtown Los Angeles region. The area code 213 has become one of the smallest in the nation and currently serves about 2.2 million telephone lines!

Communication service in Los Angeles actually started in 1860 when the first telegraph line was opened between LA and San Francisco. In 1880 the telephone was introduced into LA by the Los Angeles Telephone Company which was granted a 10 year franchise from Bell, for use of the "Bell" Telephone.  When they started they had 7 subscribers. By 1890 the regions of Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino were connected into the LA system and by 1900, LA was connected to the rest of the state through "long distance" telephone lines. In 1903 the Home Telephone Company started competing service in the LA region using an "independent" patent and within a year had over 10,000 customers. The Home Company also was first to install an automatic system where customers could dial direct another party without operator assistance as you had to with the "Bell" Company.

As telephone use grew substantial problems developed with both competing systems operating together. Sometimes it wasn't possible to ring your neighbor if he was on the other system because the two companies were not connected. By 1910 the Home Company was operating 13 offices and was the largest independent in the world. With continued problems between the two companies, the city asked that both be combined into one automatic system. In 1916, both companies combined to form the Southern California Telephone Company which became Pacific Telephone and Telegraph in 1947, and Pacific Bell in 1984. The company grew to be host to one of the largest concentrations of telephones and related equipment in the world. Over 100 central offices serve the region which has so many telecommunications circuits that the region requires 9 area codes, more then some states. 

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