# Area code 219

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Telephone system code in Indiana, United States

Area codes of Indiana

**Area code 219** is a telephone [area code](/source/Area_code) in the [North American Numbering Plan](/source/North_American_Numbering_Plan) for [Northwest Indiana](/source/Northwest_Indiana), including the state's portion of the [Chicago metropolitan area](/source/Chicago_metropolitan_area). The numbering plan area includes the cities of [Schererville](/source/Schererville%2C_Indiana), [Chesterton](/source/Chesterton%2C_Indiana), [Lake Station](/source/Lake_Station%2C_Indiana), [Lowell](/source/Lowell%2C_Indiana), [Crown Point](/source/Crown_Point%2C_Indiana), [Cedar Lake](/source/Cedar_Lake%2C_Indiana), [Hobart](/source/Hobart%2C_Indiana), [Whiting](/source/Whiting%2C_Indiana), [Gary](/source/Gary%2C_Indiana), [Hammond](/source/Hammond%2C_Indiana), [East Chicago](/source/East_Chicago%2C_Indiana), [Merrillville](/source/Merrillville%2C_Indiana), [Munster](/source/Munster%2C_Indiana), [Griffith](/source/Griffith%2C_Indiana), [Highland](/source/Highland%2C_Lake_County%2C_Indiana), [Portage](/source/Portage%2C_Indiana), [Valparaiso](/source/Valparaiso%2C_Indiana), [Michigan City](/source/Michigan_City%2C_Indiana), [Ogden Dunes](/source/Ogden_Dunes%2C_Indiana), [St. John](/source/St._John%2C_Indiana), [La Porte](/source/La_Porte%2C_Indiana), DeMotte, Roselawn, Kouts, Lake Village, and [Rensselaer](/source/Rensselaer%2C_Indiana). 219 is largely coextensive with the Indiana side of the [Chicago metropolitan area](/source/Chicago_metropolitan_area), which includes [Lake](/source/Lake_County%2C_Indiana), [Porter](/source/Porter_County%2C_Indiana), [La Porte](/source/La_Porte_County%2C_Indiana), [Newton](/source/Newton_County%2C_Indiana), and [Jasper Counties](/source/Jasper_County%2C_Indiana). Service is provided by [AT&T](/source/AT%26T), [Frontier Communications](/source/Frontier_Communications), and Northwestern Indiana Telephone Company.

Area code 219 in 1952

## History

In 1947, [American Telephone and Telegraph](/source/American_Telephone_and_Telegraph) (AT&T) published the [first configuration of proposed numbering plan areas](/source/Original_North_American_area_codes) (NPAs) for a new nationwide numbering and toll call routing system. Indiana was divided to receive two area codes. [Area code 317](/source/Area_code_317) served the northern two-thirds of Indiana, while [area code 812](/source/Area_code_812) served the southern third. In the first change of the original plan in 1948, 317 was cut back to central Indiana, while the northern third of Indiana, including Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, [South Bend](/source/South_Bend%2C_Indiana), [Elkhart](/source/Elkhart%2C_Indiana) and [Fort Wayne](/source/Fort_Wayne), received area code 219.[1]

Despite the presence of the Chicago suburbs, [Michiana](/source/Michiana) and Fort Wayne, this configuration remained unchanged for 53 years. By the end of the 20th century, however, 219 was on the verge of exhaustion. When it was apparent that the need for a split could no longer be staved off, it was decided to split northern Indiana into three area codes. Northwest Indiana won a random drawing to decide which of the areas would keep 219. The central portion of the old 219 territory, centered on South Bend, became [area code 574](/source/Area_code_574). The eastern portion, centered on Fort Wayne, became [area code 260](/source/Area_code_260). The area codes split on January 15, 2002. Permissive dialing of 219 continued across northern Indiana until June 14, 2002.[2]

Prior to October 2021, area code 219 had telephone numbers assigned for the [central office code](/source/Central_office_code) 988. In 2020, *988* was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the [National Suicide Prevention Lifeline](/source/National_Suicide_Prevention_Lifeline), which created a conflict for exchanges that permit [seven-digit dialing](/source/Seven-digit_dialing). This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to [ten-digit dialing](/source/Ten-digit_dialing) by October 24, 2021.[3]

## See also

- [List of Indiana area codes](/source/List_of_Indiana_area_codes)

- [List of North American Numbering Plan area codes](/source/List_of_North_American_Numbering_Plan_area_codes)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Indiana Area Code History - Telecom Indiana"](http://telecomindiana.com/indiana1947.html). *telecomindiana.com*. Retrieved September 23, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["AT&T - Area Code History - Indiana"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090212101510/http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=1718&phase=check). Archived from [the original](http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=1718&phase=check) on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2018-06-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-pl556_3-0)** ["Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline)"](https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL_556.pdf) (PDF). North American Numbering Plan Administrator. January 8, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.

## External links

- ["Area Code Maps"](https://www.nanpa.com/resources/area-code-maps). [North American Numbering Plan Administrator](/source/North_American_Numbering_Plan_Administrator).

Indiana area codes: 219, 260, 317/463, 574, 765, 812/930 North: 269, Lake Michigan West: 708/464, 773, 872, 815/779 219 East: 574 South: 765 Michigan area codes: 231, 248/947, 269, 313/679, 517, 586, 616, 734, 810, 906, 989 Illinois area codes: 217/447, 309/861, 312, 630/331, 618/730, 708/464, 773, 815/779, 847/224, 872

[41°08′56″N 87°14′24″W / 41.149°N 87.240°W / 41.149; -87.240](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Area_code_219&params=41.149_N_87.24_W_scale:200000)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Area code 219](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_219) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_219?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.