Area codes 309 and 861 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 the west-central part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The numbering plan area includes cities such as Bloomington, Canton, East Moline, East Peoria, Galesburg, Geneseo, Kewanee, Macomb, Minonk, Moline, Morton, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Rock Island, Silvis, and many smaller communities in west-

central Illinois Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...

. Area code 309 was created in 1957 in a

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

area code 815 Area codes 815 and 779 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for most of northern Illinois outside the Quad Cities areas. It also serves the Joliet area and some of Chicago’s western and northwestern suburbs. 8 ...

. 861 was added to the numbering plan area on February 24, 2023, in formation of an overlay.

History

When the

American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

created the first nationwide

telephone numbering plan 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, reach ...

for

Operator Toll Dialing Operator Toll Dialing was a telephone call routing and toll-switching system for the Bell System and the independent telephone companies in the United States and Canada that paved the way for Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) by telephone service subsc ...

in 1947, the state of Illinois was divided into four numbering plan areas (NPAs), generally laid out as a southern, central, and northern area, and a region around the city of Chicago. The northern NPA was assigned

in the group of eighty-six

original North American area codes The original North American area codes were established by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1947. The assignment was in accord with the design of a uniform nationwide telephone numbering plan that supported the goal of dialin ...

. Sometime after September 1956, the 815 numbering plan area was divided roughly in half along a north-westerly to south-easterly running line, assigning area code 309 to its western part. It was the only new area code created in Illinois between 1947 and the 1989 creation of area code 708. On October 24, 2021, area code 309 was transitioned to

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 ...

, despite not being part of an

overlay complex 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 ...

, in which multiple area codes are assigned to a numbering plan area. The area code had telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988. In 2020, ''988'' was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States, or Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada, and formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is a suicide prevention and crisis help line to a network of a large number of crisis ce ...

, which created a conflict for exchanges that still permitted seven-digit dialing. NANPA exhaust projections for 309 in 2021 determined an exhaustion date in late 2023. For mitigation, a new all-services distributed overlay was announced with the new area code 861, which commenced operation on February 24, 2023. The earliest date central office codes could be requested was December 20, 2022, but assignments are available only after all central office codes in area code 309 have been allocated.

Service area

Communities in the numbering plan area include: * Abingdon * Adair * Albany * Aledo * Alexis *

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

* Altona *

Anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

* Andover * Annawan * Armington * Arrowsmith * Astoria * Atkinson * Avon * Bardolph * Barstow *

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* Bellflower * Benson * Berwick * Biggsville * Bishop Hill * Blandinsville * Bloomington *

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

* Brimfield * Bryant *

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

* Buffalo Prairie * Bushnell *

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

* Cameron * Camp Grove * Canton * Carbon Cliff * Carlock * Carman * Castleton * Chillicothe * Coal Valley *

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

* Colfax * Colona * Congerville * Cooksville * Cordova * Creve Coeur * Cropsey *

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

* Dahinda * Danvers * Deer Creek * Delavan * Downs * Dumfermline * Dunlap * East Galesburg * East Moline * East Peoria * Easton * Edelstein * Edwards *

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

* Ellisville * Ellsworth * Elmwood * Erie * Eureka * Fairview * Farmer City * Farmington * Fenton * Fiatt * Forest City * Galesburg * Galva * Geneseo * Gerlaw * Gilson *

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

* Glasford * Good Hope * Goodfield * Green Valley * Gridley * Groveland * Hampton * Hanna City *

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Henderson * Henry * Heyworth * Hillsdale * Hopedale * Hudson * Illinois City * Industry * Ipava * Joy * Keithsburg * Kewanee * Kilbourne * Kingston Mines * Kirkwood *

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

* La Fayette * La Rose * Lacon * Laura * Le Roy * Lewistown * Lexington * Little York * Littleton *

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

* London Mills * Low Point * Lynn Center * Mackinaw * Macomb * Manito * Mapleton * Maquon * Marietta * Matherville * Mc Lean *

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 ...

* Merna * Metamora *

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

* Minier * Minonk * Moline *

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

* Morton * Mossville * Neponset * New Boston * New Windsor * Normal * Norris * North Henderson * Oneida * Oquawka * Orion * Osco * Pekin * Peoria * Peoria Heights *

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

* Port Byron * Prairie City * Preemption * Princeville * Rapids City * Raritan * Reynolds * Rio * Roanoke * Rock Island *

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

* Roseville * St. Augustine * St. David * San Jose * Saybrook * Siota * Seaton * Secor * Sherrard * Shirley * Silvis * Smithfield * Smithshire * South Pekin * Sparland * Speer * Stanford * Stronghurst * Table Grove * Taylor Ridge *

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

* Topeka *

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

* Towanda * Tremont * Trivoli * Varna *

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

* Victoria *

Viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

* Washburn * Washington * Wataga * Williamsfield * Woodhull *

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

* Yates City

References

External links

{{coord, 40, 41, 31, N, 89, 35, 28, W, type:landmark_region:US-IL_source:GoogleMaps, display=title, name=Area code 309 tandem (Peoria Jefferson) 309 309 Telecommunications-related introductions in 1957

History

Service area

See also

References

External links