Area codes 304 and 681 - wikipedia Area codes 304 and 681 Area code map North American telephone area code 304 was established October 1947 as one of the original area codes, and serves all of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was overlaid with area code 681, effective March 28, 2009. Contents 1 Overview 2 Implementation dates for 681 code 3 References 4 External links Overview Due to West Virginia 's low population, it was one of the last remaining states with only one area code. However, in 2007, news reports indicated that West Virginia would soon need a new area code. This was largely due to the proliferation of cell phones and fax machines. On January 29, 2008, the West Virginia Public Service Commission voted 2 - 1 for a split of the existing 304 area code, with commission chairman Michael Albert dissenting in favor of an overlay. The proposed split had Charleston and points south ( Huntington, Bluefield, Beckley ) staying in 304, while the northern and eastern portions of the state ( Wheeling, Morgantown, Clarksburg, Parkersburg ) would have been split into a new area code. However, telecommunications providers were overwhelmingly in favor of an overlay instead of a split. This would have had the effect of assigning 15.6 million numbers to a state of just over 1.8 million people. Despite this, most of the state 's telecommunications providers wanted to spare their northern West Virginia customers, particularly in rural areas, the burden of having to change their numbers -- which would have required en masse reprogramming of cell phones. They were still able to ask the Commission to reconsider, or appeal to the West Virginia State Supreme Court, for an overlay instead of a split. Over the following two weeks, numerous state and local government officials and various business interests voiced strong opposition to a split of 304, in favor of an overlay. Even Governor Joe Manchin voiced his support of an overlay. Several telecommunications providers then officially appealed to the Public Service Commission for an overlay, which was unanimously approved by all three commissioners on February 13, 2008. It was the first example of an entire state previously only served by a single code being overlaid. This example has since been followed by Idaho, where area code 208 was overlaid with 986 in 2017. At one time, 932 was reserved for use as a future area code in West Virginia, but there has since been a 304 - 932 exchange code assigned in Charleston. In any event, West Virginia is not currently projected to need need another area code in the foreseeable future. Implementation dates for 681 code Implementation dates for permissive and mandatory ten - digit local dialing, as well as the effective date of the overlay, were announced in Neustar NANPA 's Planning Letter # 375, issued March 21, 2008. Permissive ten - digit local dialing of numbers in the existing 304 area code would begin no later than July 26, 2008. ( During this period, local 304 calls could still be dialed with just seven digits. ) Mandatory ten - digit local dialing of existing 304 numbers took effect on February 28, 2009. ( Calls within 304 dialed with just seven digits became extinct ; a recorded message informed them of the new dialing procedure. ) New numbers with the 681 area code became available on March 28, 2009, one month after the start of mandatory ten - digit dialing. A test number for determining if routing to the new area code is in effect from any West Virginia telephone number, 681 - 990 - TEST ( 8378 ), went into service on December 28, 2008 and remained active through June 28, 2009. References Jump up ^ `` New Area Code Coming to West Virginia ''. WOWKTV.com. 2007 - 01 - 23. Archived from the original on 2010 - 02 - 20. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 16. Jump up ^ webmaster@wvmh.com ( 2007 - 01 - 25 ). `` New Area Code Coming to West Virginia ''. State Journal. Archived from the original on 2009 - 08 - 04. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 16. Jump up ^ WV to get second area code Archived 2008 - 02 - 01 at the Wayback Machine... Associated Press, 2008 - 01 - 29. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy '' ( PDF ). Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2017 - 11 - 14. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 13. Jump up ^ `` NPA 681 to Overlay NPA 304 ( West Virginia ) '' ( PDF ). NANPA. 2008 - 03 - 21. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2010 - 02 - 15. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 16. External links NANPA Area Code Map of West Virginia West Virginia area codes : 304 / 681 North : 234 / 330, 724 / 878, 240 / 301, 740 West : 606, 220 / 740 area codes 304 & 681 East : 240 / 301, 540 South : 276 Kentucky area codes : 270 / 364, 502, 606, 859 Maryland area codes : 240 / 301, 410 / 443 / 667 Ohio area codes : 216, 220 / 740, 234 / 330, 380 / 614, 419 / 567, 440, 513, 937 Pennsylvania area codes : 215 / 267 / 445, 223 / 717, 272 / 570, 412, 484 / 610, 724, 814, 878 Virginia area codes : 276, 434, 540, 571 / 703, 757, 804 Lists of area codes in the North American Numbering Plan Canada Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Caribbean Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Jamaica Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Oceania American Samoa Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Guam United States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah U.S. Government Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Coordinates : 38 ° 28 ′ 46 '' N 81 ° 00 ′ 47 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 38.479395 ° N 81.013184 ° W ﻿ / 38.479395 ; - 81.013184 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Area_codes_304_and_681&oldid=839784713 '' Categories : Telecommunications - related introductions in 1947 Telecommunications - related introductions in 2009 Area codes in the United States Area codes in West Virginia Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Coordinates on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Français Edit links This page was last edited on 5 May 2018, at 17 : 09 ( UTC ). 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Question: where is the 304 telephone area code located
Answer: West Virginia