San Francisco

415 Area Code Overlaid With 628 for Parts of Marin, San Mateo Counties

Most people know you're a San Franciscan or a Marin County dweller if you give them your telephone prefix of 415.

Well, not for everyone, not anymore.

Beginning on Saturday, the 415 area code will be "overlaid" by the 628 in these cities: the county of San Francisco, most of Marin County and a small portion of San Mateo County, serving the communities of Belvedere, Brisbane, Corte Madera, Daly City, Fairfax, Ignacio, Inverness, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Nicasio, Novato, Point Reyes, Ross, San Anselmo, San Francisco, San Rafael, Sausalito, Stinson Beach and Tiburon.

So, if you had 415, you won't lose it. But if you get a new number, you're likely to get assigned to 628. That means next- door neighbors might have different area codes.

Plus, everyone in the 415 area code will need to add the “415” to make a call. If you’re calling from a landline, you’ll have to add a “1” at the beginning.

If you don’t, you'll get a recorded message to hang up and dial again with the area code. The California Public Utilities Commission alerted customers this would be happening as far back as May, and phone users were supposed to start practicing the new area code in August.

This is just the latest grafting, or splitting away, from the mighty 415, first created when the cost of gasoline was 15 cents a gallone and when Harry S. Truman was president of the United States.


History of the 415 area code:

1947: First used.

1959: 707 for the North Bay and the 408 for the South Bay were born.

1991: 510 for the parts of Alameda County was created.

1997: 650 was formed for the Peninsula.

1998: 925 was grafted for Contra Costa County, and 831 was grafted for the Santa Cruz area.

The new 628 will be California’s 32nd area code.

Source: San Francisco Chronic reporting via the North American Numbering Plan Administration.
 

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