“813 Day”: The history of the 813 area code
FOX 13’s Lloyd Sowers examines the history of area code 813, which was Florida’s second area code and has now been in existence for more than 70 years.
TAMPA, Florida. – Remember when telephones were just for making calls? In the late 1940s, telephones became so popular that they were divided into area codes.
READ: 813 Day in Tampa: How to celebrate the city holiday
The area code in Florida was 305 for all of us from the Panhandle to the Keys. Then, in 1953, the area code 813 was established on Florida’s west coast, including Tampa. Since some people use the area codes as their name, Tampa has since become “The 813.”
This map shows the area covered by area code 813 from 1953 to 1965, when there were only two area codes for the entire state.
In 1965, 904 were added to the 305 and 813 in North Florida. The state’s population grew and the number of telephones increased. But all of these phones were connected to miles of wires.
In 1965, 904 was added as Florida’s third area code, reducing the 813 area to the north.
Telephone cables were even laid across oceans, but they could not reach the moon. Nevertheless, we were able to listen to the astronauts when they first stepped onto the lunar surface. This contributed to the development of cordless telephones.
Then came fax machines, modems and pagers, and everyone seemed to have them. Florida added more area codes. The state, which had two area codes in 1953, now has 22 area codes.
Today, there are 22 area codes in Florida. The rest of the area covered by 813 even has a second area code: 656.
With so many devices with numbers on them, it’s ironic that we can no longer remember numbers. They might be stored in the memory of the devices. We may be the last generation to remember the phone number of our childhood, burned into our brains.
“It has become a part of history, like the paper map,” says Rodney Kite-Powell of the Tampa Bay History Center.
Calling Tampa and Hillsborough “The 813” and celebrating 813 Day on August 13 (8/13) is a throwback to the days when we knew about phone numbers but had no idea what role phones would play in our lives. Who knows how many more area codes and phone numbers there will be? And will we remember any of them?
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