What's in a Number? Area Codes

What's in a number? In the case of a telephone number, a lot. The number corresponds not to just one particular line, but the area code and branch number (the first three digits after the area code) also tell us where that line is based. Now that mobile phones on nationwide networks are commonplace, the number's less telling about where the person at that number lives, though it's still true for landlines. Buried within some area codes is a bit of additional lore. Everyone knows that area codes correspond to certain parts of a state, or in some cases a particular metropolitan area. The original area codes, those established in 1947, also told you how populous your area was.

When area codes were first established in 1947, dialing a phone worked by spinning a rotary wheel, or dial. That's where the whole verb of "dialing" a phone comes from! You'd spin the wheel one direction with your finger, using guide slots for each particular number. After each spin a spring would spin the dial back, transmitting an electrical pulse across the phone line as each detent was passed. So a 1 was 1 pulse, a 2 was 2 pulses, etc. Zero, all the way around the dial, was 10 pulses.

Because turning the wheel took time, and especially the phone signalling the evenly-spaced pulses took time, designers of the first area code system optimized it to minimize time spent dialing. They assigned the shortest area codes to the most populated areas.

"What's a 'short' area code?" you might ask. "They're all three numbers." Yes, they're all three numbers, but the issue is how many pulses were required to transmit those numbers. 212, an area code for New York City, is 5 pulses (2+1+2=5).

There were additional constraints on the original set of area codes. The first digit had to be 2-9. The second digit had to be 0 or 1. (That was because 0 and 1 weren't used in any branch numbers up to that point.) The third digit could be 2-9 if the middle digit was 1, or 1-9 if the middle digit was 0. Thus the fastest number assignable was 212, which was assigned to New York City.

Here's a map of the original area codes in 1947:


Image courtesy of Wikipedia

So, what were the most populated cities/area in 1947, as indicated by area codes?

# pulses	Area Code(s)	City / Region
5	212	New York City
6	213 312	Los Angeles, San Diego, Southern California Chicago & suburbs
7	214 313 412	Dallas & Northeast Texas Detroit & suburbs Pittsburgh & southwestern Pennsylvania
8	215 314 413 512	Philadelphia St. Louis & eastern Missouri Western Massachusetts Austin, San Antonio, Southern Texas

What's interesting about this is the way cities ranked by population in 1947 is different from today. The biggest 3 cities then are the same now— New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Each now has multiple area codes. Southern California has grown so much that 213 is now specific to part Los Angeles instead of covering the whole region. Orange County and San Diego have multiple area codes of their own. Even San Bernardino County has two area codes, including 909, the "last" of the original area code system.

What about the others? Well, if the list were being made today, Dallas would still be fourth on the list, rating an area code like 214, but Houston and Washington, DC would have jumped up into the slots alongside it with 7-pulse area codes. (Note, I'm going by rank of metropolitan area population, not city population.) Detroit would drop two categories as it's now the 14th largest metro area. Pittsburgh, now the 27th largest metro, would drop several boxes.

Four and a Half Years Later: Hung Jury

Four and a half years ago we were struck in a multi-vehicle car collision in Seattle. The driver of one car was charged criminally, and a few weeks ago the case finally went to trial (after 4.5 years). We were subpoenaed at witnesses and traveled to Seattle early last week to testify. Today we learned of the result of the trial. The jury deadlocked.

The prosecutors explained the situation to us in a video call today. The jury deliberated for 2 1/2 days and was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. I don't know what the final vote was. The prosecutors did get some feedback from jurors about where their case was too weak to support conviction. They've offered the defendant another plea bargain. They're also considering whether to try the defendant again if he declines the offer. I'm skeptical he'll take an offer. He declined all previous offers, and his bargaining position would seem stronger now after prosecutors tried and failed once to convict him.

Well, if they do try him again, we'll go back to Seattle!

Flowers Around Home

Last weekend we had plans to travel for the superbloom in California's Antelope Valley. Had, because we canceled those plans two days beforehand. We were tired from traveling, and the weather was not great— meaning the flowers might barely even be blooming, let alone super-blooming. Well, the weather at home wasn't great, either, but I have seen a lot of nice blooms right around the house. Here are some pictures from our gardens.



I'm starting off with this shot because it's the best. It's a California Poppy, our state flower. And it's not even in a garden, per se. It's in a small patch of dirt barely 2'x2' next to our satellite garage door. The drizzly rain several days ago provided this rare opportunity to catch a picture of the flower open with droplets on its petals.



Around the gardens in our neighborhood we have a lot of Birds of Paradise, the showy flower in the pic above. Birds of Paradise are named because they look strikingly like an actual bird that's also named Bird of Paradise. With our mild weather these flowers stay in bloom most of the year.

Now back to poppies....



We have poppies in several places around the neighborhood. This bunch are in a curbside garden at the end of our building. I pass by these flowers every time I walk to the trash enclosure or mailbox... which means generally at least once a day.

In beauty I walk... even if it's only as far as the mailbox.