Area codes 304 and 681
area codes of West Virginia
Area codes 304 and 681 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the entirety of the U.S. state of West Virginia. The numbering plan area was established in October 1947 with area code 304, as one of the 86 original North American area codes. Area code 681 was added to the same area as an overlay in 2009.
History
Due to West Virginia's low population, the state still needed only one area code in the early 21st century. With the growth of telecommunication services, in particular proliferation of cell and mobile phones and fax machines, news reports in 2007 indicated that West Virginia would soon need a new area code.
On January 29, 2008, the West Virginia Public Service Commission voted to split numbering plan area 304, while commission chairman dissented in favor of an overlay. The proposed split had Charleston, Parkersburg and points south (Huntington, Bluefield, Beckley) staying with area code 304, while the northern and eastern portions of the state (Wheeling, Morgantown, Martinsburg, Clarksburg) would have received a new area code. Telecommunications service providers were also in favor of an overlay. They wanted to spare their northern West Virginia customers, particularly in rural areas, the burden of having to change telephone numbers, which would have required reprogramming of all cell phones.
Over the following two weeks, numerous state and local government officials and various business interests voiced opposition to a split, in favor of the overlay option, with Governor Joe Manchin supporting the overlay.
The public source identifies “Area codes 304 and 681” as area codes of West Virginia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Area, codes and area.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3150332. Authority coordinates are 38.479, -81.013. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1947, 2009, 2007 and 2008.
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This entry incorporates text from “Area codes 304 and 681” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.