Editing Area codes 916 and 279 (section)

==History==
Originally, in 1947, the numbering plan area comprised the far northern portion of the state. In 1950, as part of a realignment of California's area codes, 916 was remapped to the northeastern corner of California, from the [[Sierra Nevada]] to the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]]. This involved changing Sacramento from [[area code 415]] to 916.{{Citation needed|date = October 2017}}

In 1958, 916 was reduced in geographic extend in the north, with the creation of new [[area code 209]] for the southern part.

The numbering plan area was split again in a [[flash-cut]] on March 1, 1959, when [[area code 707]] was created out of the northwest portion. On November 1, 1997, it was split again. The northeastern portion, including [[Redding, California|Redding]], [[Yreka, California|Yreka]] and [[Mount Shasta, California|Mount Shasta]], became [[area code 530]], reducing the 916 numbering plan area to Sacramento and its immediate area. Simultaneously, [[Dixon, California|Dixon]] was reassigned from 916 to 707. This split left 916 as the only one of the original 86 area codes that no longer contains any part of its original area.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1947 Area Code Assignment Map|url=http://www.areacode-info.com/!maps/images/NANP1947.gif|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080408094911/http://www.areacode-info.com/!maps/images/NANP1947.gif|archive-date=April 8, 2008|access-date=April 14, 2021|website=areacode-info.com}}</ref>

In 2017, the CPUC approved an [[Overlay plan|overlay area code]] to take effect in 2018, as all available prefixes were expected to be allocated by December 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lillis|first=Ryan|last2=Fletcher|first2=Ed|date=March 29, 2016|title=Sacramento region eyes new area code as 916 phone numbers run out|work=[[The Sacramento Bee]]|url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article68813762.html|access-date=April 14, 2021}}</ref> On February 9, 2017, the CPUC announced that the new overlay area code would be area code 279.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Renee|first=Alexa|date=February 10, 2017|title=How is a new area code selected?|url=http://www.abc10.com/news/local/how-is-a-new-area-code-selected/406846052|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212091017/http://www.abc10.com/news/local/how-is-a-new-area-code-selected/406846052|archive-date=February 12, 2017|access-date=April 14, 2021|website=abc10.com}}</ref> The new area code began service on March 10, 2018.<ref>[http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/916areacode/ 916 Area Code]. California Public Utilities Commission. Accessed on 2016-08-12.</ref>