Area codes 256 and 938 are

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, re ...

codes that mostly cover North Alabama as well as some eastern portions of the state. The main area code, 256, was created on March 23, 1998, as a split from area code 205. In order to allow people time to reprogram electronics such as computers, cell phones, pagers and fax machines, use of the 205 area code continued in the 256 areas through September 28, 1998. It covers north and northeast Alabama and includes the following metropolitan areas: *

Huntsville Metropolitan Area The Huntsville Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan statistical area on the northern border of Alabama. The metro area's principal city is Huntsville, and consists of two counties: Limestone and Madison. As of the 2020 United State ...

* Decatur Metropolitan Area * The Shoals * Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area * Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Area In March 2009, the Alabama Public Service Commission announced that the state's first all-services overlay area code, 938, would be added with the current 256 area code "sometime in 2011". As a result, 10-digit dialing was implemented for all numbers in the area with voluntary compliance beginning on November 7, 2009, and mandatory use by June 5, 2010 instead of dialing 7 digits. The 938 area code took effect beginning July 10, 2010. This timing roughly coincided with the end of the originally projected 12-year "life span" of the original 256 area code.

Counties and cities included

Counties

* Blount County (part, near Arab on Brindlee Mountain, most of Blount County is in area code 205) * Calhoun County (part, some of Calhoun County is in area code 205) * Cherokee County *

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

* Cleburne County *

Colbert County Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named in ...

* Coosa County * Cullman County * DeKalb County * Elmore County (part, most of Elmore County is in

area code 334 Area code 334 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for southeastern Alabama. It was created on January 15, 1995, in an area code split from area code 205. and was the first new area code in Alabama since the impl ...

) * Etowah County (part, some of Etowah County is in area code 205) * Franklin County (part, some of Franklin County is in area code 205) * Jackson County * Lawrence County * Lauderdale County * Limestone County * Madison County * Marshall County * Morgan County * Randolph County (part, some of Randolph County is in

) * Saint Clair County (part, the Steele area. Most of Saint Clair County is in area code 205) *

Talladega County Talladega County (pronounced Talla-dig-a) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Winston County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Talladega As of t ...

(part, the Lincoln area is in area code 205) *

Tallapoosa County Tallapoosa County is located in the east-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Tallapoosa County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Tallapoosa As of the 2020 United States census, ...

(part, some of Tallapoosa County is in

) *

Winston County Winston County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Winston County, Alabama Winston County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,540. Its county seat is Double Springs. Known as H ...

(part, most of Winston County is in area code 205)

Cities

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting t ...

Alexander City Alexander City, known to locals as "Alex City", is the largest city in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States, with a population of 14,843 as of the 2020 census. It has been the largest community in Tallapoosa County since 1910. It is kno ...

* Anniston *

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

* Ashland *

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

* Attalla * Boaz * Centre * Collinsville * Cullman * Dadeville * Decatur *

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

* Fort Payne *

Gadsden Gadsden may refer to: Places *Gadsden, Alabama **Gadsden Depot, a United States Army Depot in the city of Gadsden, Alabama *Gadsden, Arizona *Gadsden, Indiana * Gadsden, South Carolina * Gadsden, Tennessee * Gadsden County, Florida * Gadsden Ind ...

* Guntersville *

Hartselle Hartselle is the second largest city in Morgan County, Alabama, United States, south of Decatur. It is part of the Decatur Metropolitan Area and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ...

Heflin Heflin may refer to: Places in the United States * Heflin, Alabama * Heflin, Kentucky * Heflin, Louisiana * Heflin, Virginia Other uses * Heflin (surname) {{Disambiguation ...

* Hokes Bluff * Huntsville * Jacksonville * Leesburg * Madison * Moulton * Muscle Shoals *

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

* Rainbow City * Rainsville * Red Bay * Rockford * Russellville * Scottsboro *

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Sylacauga Sylacauga is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,578. Sylacauga is known for its fine white marble bedrock. This was discovered shortly after settlers moved into the area and has been ...

* Talladega * Tuscumbia * Wedowee

References

External links

List of exchanges from CIDLookup.com, 256 Area Code938 Area Code
{{Coord, 34, 8, N, 85, 58, W, display=title Telecommunications-related introductions in 1998 Telecommunications-related introductions in 2010

256 Year 256 ( CCLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 1009 ''Ab urbe condi ...

Counties and cities included

Counties

Cities

See also

References

External links