Editing Area code 251 (section)

{{Short description|Telephone area code for southwest Alabama}}
[[File:Area code 251.svg|thumb|right|Region covered by area code 251 in Alabama]]
'''Area code 251''' is a telephone [[area code]] in the [[North American Numbering Plan]] (NANP) for southwestern [[Alabama]], serving [[Mobile County|Mobile]], [[Baldwin County, Alabama|Baldwin]], and [[Washington County, Alabama|Washington]] counties and parts of six other counties.<ref name="htm1">{{cite news
  | first=Bob
  | last=Lowry
  | work=The Huntsville Times
  | title=Flex your fingers for 10-digit dialing in 2010
  | url=http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/123616178931610.xml&coll=1
  | date=March 4, 2009
}}</ref>  It was created on June 18, 2001, as a split from [[area code 334]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/npa_query_step2.do;nanpaid=Yh55HzpSZVjXSygqjJTpgbV6b3sfnJv9VGl7Gg42jD8JphvmThzn!287555716?method=displayNpa |title=Area Code 251 |publisher=NANPA |access-date=2007-12-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506014306/http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/npa_query_step2.do%3Bnanpaid%3DYh55HzpSZVjXSygqjJTpgbV6b3sfnJv9VGl7Gg42jD8JphvmThzn%21287555716?method=displayNpa |archive-date=2009-05-06 }}</ref>  In order to allow people time to reprogram electronics such as computers, cell phones, pagers and fax machines, use of the 334 area code continued in the 251 areas through January 7, 2002.<ref name="February14">{{cite news
  | first=Charles R.
  | last=McCauley
  | title=Southwest Alabama to get new area code
  | work=The Birmingham News
  | date=February 14, 2001
}}</ref>

Prior to October 2021, area code 251 had telephone numbers assigned for the [[central office code]] 988. In 2020, ''988'' was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the [[National Suicide Prevention Lifeline]], which created a conflict for exchanges that permit [[seven-digit dialing]]. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to [[ten-digit dialing]] by October 24, 2021.<ref name="pl556">{{cite web|url=https://nationalnanpa.com/pdf/PL_556.pdf|date=January 8, 2021|publisher=North American Numbering Plan Administrator |title=Transition to 10-digit dialing (for 988 as 3-digit access to National Suicide Prevention Hotline)|access-date=March 9, 2021}}</ref>