From: »www.roamer1.org/telecom/atlnexch.html
1947
First directory available at Atlanta downtown library.
Long distance rates (station) given:
To Marietta (18 miles away from downtown): 15c/min all the time
To Dalton (90 miles away): 50c/min peak 35c/min off-peak (!)
(Today, with BellSouth and AT&T, the former is free/untimed, and the latter is 10c/min.)
"Special" dialing codes given:
Long distance operator: 110
Directory assistance: 113
Repair service: 114
Southern Bell business office: OFficial 8600
Four-party lines (J,M,R,W) common.
Numbers were 2L+4N. Exchange names that existed in 1947, and where they roughly correspond to now:
AMherst (West End)
ATwood (Midtown)
HEmlock (Peachtree Place/Midtown. This one doesn't appear in the conversion to 2L+5N -- it may have been "retired." Smyrna got HEmlock later on.)
MAin (Courtland St./downtown)
ALpine (West End)
BElmont (NW Atlanta)
LAmar (Downtown)
VErnon (NW Atlanta)
CAlhoun (Tri-Cities -- East Point, Hapeville, College Park)
CHerokee (Buckhead and Sandy Springs)
CRescent (Decatur)
CYpress (Downtown)
DEarborn (DEcatur)
RAymond (Tri-Cities)
WAlnut (Downtown)
Clarkston (now the Decatur Indian Creek CO), Chamblee, and Stone Mountain were "local" calls, but had to be placed through an operator -- there were no dial trunks between Atlanta and the outlying areas. Numbers in all three areas were only four digits, no letters (except for party lines.)
Atlanta Emergency: WAlnut 2121 (now 911)
Georgia Power Co.: WAlnut 6121 (now 404-325-4001)
WJ6-xxxx was indicated for a doctor with a mobile phone. Of course, that had to be placed via an operator, and the phone book said so.
The "quadrant" (NW/NE/SW/SE) addresses in the city of Atlanta existed even back in the late '40s.
1948
New exchange names:
EXchange (Buckhead/Sandy Springs)
FAirfax (Tri-Cities)
1949
New exchange names:
DIxie (Lakewood)
EMerson (Midtown)
FRanklin (Tri-Cities)
1950
Atlanta could now dial Chamblee and Clarkston (but still not Stone Mountain.)
ATL -> CH/CL: 21 + four digits
CH/CL -> ATL: 8 + six digits
New exchange name:
EVergreen (Decatur)
1951
Toll rates decreased slightly.
New exchange name:
ELgin (NW Atlanta)
1952
Smyrna became local and dialable. Dialing was changed to:
ATL -> Smyr: 4 + 5-xxxx
ATL -> CL/IC: 4 + 3-xxxx
ATL -> Cham: 4 + 7-xxxx
"Civic section" appeared inbetween yellow and white pages. (I may not have noticed it in earlier books.)
No new exchange names.
1953
No changes
1954
Stone Mountain became dialable and local from Clarkston (only.)
CL -> STMT: 4 + xxxx
1955
Exchange name changes, to 2L+5N:
RAymond -> PLaza 3 (753) - West End
AMherst -> PLaza 5 (755) - West End
FRanklin -> PLaza 8 (758) - West End
MAin -> MUrray 8 (688) - Downtown
OFficial (SBT&T) -> MUrray 5 (685) - Downtown
CAlhoun -> POplar 1 (761) - Tri-Cities
FAirfax -> POplar 7 (767) - Tri-Cities
BElmont -> SYcamore 4 (794) - Hollywood Rd/Bankhead
1956
Book contained color pages showing color phones.
The rest of Atlanta goes 2L+5N dialing...
CHerokee -> CEdar 3 (233) - Buckhead
EXchange -> CEdar 7 (237) - Buckhead
WAlnut 0100-2499 -> JAckson (?) (52?) - Downtown
WAlnut 2500-9999 -> JAckson (?) (52?) - Downtown
DEarborn -> DRake 3 (373) - Decatur E Lake Dr
CRescent -> DRake 7 (377) - Decatur E Lake Dr
EVergreen -> DRake 8 (378) - Decatur E Lake Dr
Some Decatur areas that didn't change to DRake changed to BUtler 9 (289). That prefix is now associated with the Columbia Drive CO.
Complete list of changes:
ALpine -> JAckson 5 (525) - Downtown
AMherst -> PLaza 5 (755) - West End
ATwood -> TRinity 4 (874) - Midtown
BElmont -> SYcamore 4 (794) - Hollywood Road
CAlhoun -> POplar 1 (761) - Tri-Cities
CYpress -> JAckson 3 (523) - Downtown
DIxie -> MArket 7 (627) - Lakewood
ELgin -> TRinity 6 (876) - Midtown
EMerson -> TRinity 5 (875) - Midtown
FAirfax -> POplar 7 (767) - Tri-Cities
FRanklin -> PLaza 8 (768) - Tri-Cities
LAmar -> JAckson 4 (524) - Downtown
MAin -> MUrray 8 (688) - Downtown
OFficial -> MUrray 5 (685) - Downtown
(BellSouth started using 780-xxxx in the late '80s.)
RAymond -> PLaza 3 (763) - Tri-Cities
VErnon -> TRinity 2 (872) - Midtown
Decatur exchanges that didn't change to DRake -> BUtler 9 (289)
New additions:
MArket 2 (622) - Lakewood
MElrose 4, 6 (634, 636) - Toco Hills (split out of Decatur?)
POplar 6 (766) - Tri-Cities
Stone Mountain *still* not customer-dialable.
1957
New exchange name (and CO?):
BLackburn 5 (255, which is now the Sandy Springs CO, on Roswell Road.)
Outlying areas (Chamblee, Clarkston, Smyrna, *still* not Stone Mtn.) became 2L+5N:
Chamblee -- GLendale (45x-xxxx)
Clarkston -- HIckory (44x-xxxx. 44x is now Norcross and Dallas. Clarkston changed to 29x later on.)
Smyrna -- HEmlock (43x-xxxx)
No customer dialing from Atlanta to Stone Mtn. still. Stone Mtn. *could* dial Atlanta, depending on what RATE PLAN customer had:
STMT -> ATL: 7 + (2L+5N) if "Atlanta service"
go via operator if "local only" service (TOLL)
Business office opened(?) at 547 Church St. in Decatur.
Lots of "customer information":
beep must be given on recorded calls
telegrams can be placed via WUTCO and billed to phone bill
employees carry ID cards now
telco offered tours of COs, offices, etc., and films, to school groups
mobile phones available
lots of new equipment available: answering machines, speaker phones, phones w/ lighted dial, etc.
CALLING CARDS!
2/4 party lines still available and common.
1958
New exchange name:
DIamond 4 (344, Ben Hill)
Between '57 and '60
Stone Mtn. became customer dialable from Atlanta.
1960
On June 5, Atlanta went to All Number Dialing. (For comparison, Chattanooga didn't do so until the *late* '60s)
On October 2, new, large local EAS introduced. Listings for outlying areas were listed in a SPECIAL, SEPARATE DIRECTORY.
Areas that became local from ATLANTA ONLY at this time:
Austell (946/948)
Douglasville (WH2 - 942)
Duluth (DR6 - 476)
Fairburn (964)
Fayetteville (HO1 - 461)
Jonesboro (GR 8 - 478)
Lithonia (HU2 - 482)
Marietta (427/428)
(Today, the two Marietta COs combined have nearly 30 NXXs.)
Norcross (448)
Roswell (993)
Stockbridge (GR4 - 474)
(Letter name equivalents were not listed. More than likely common Bell names were used. I have been told that Marietta 42* was "GA", but I haven't seen any old Marietta phone books.)
Miscellaneous EAS:
Roswell/Alpharetta
Marietta/Smyrna (may have already been EAS)
Austell/Powder Springs
Fairburn/Palmetto
Clarkston/Stone Mountain (already in effect)
Chamblee/Norcross
Norcross/Duluth
The business office phone number changed to 529-8611.
For directory for COBB AND DOUGLAS COUNTY ONLY, callers were asked to dial 42-113 instead of 113. Of course, 42x-xxxx is Marietta; such calls were almost certainly taken by operators at the Marietta CO building.
DDD became available! Area code was given as 404.
1961
EAS extended -- at this time, all COs in the "expanded metro area" became local to all other COs in the "expanded metro area". Further, the following areas were added:
Powder Springs (already local to Austell)
Alpharetta (already local to Roswell)
Palmetto (already local to Fairburn)
Conyers
The 366 prefix shows up for Forest Park, a new CO.
1965
Dialing codes:
TO ALL AREAS FROM "ATLANTA" - Dial 7 digits only
TO "ATLANTA" FROM CERTAIN OUTLYING AREAS:
Austell, Lithonia, Stone Mtn. - 7 + 7d
Chamblee, Clarkston, Fairburn, Fayettev'l, Roswell - 8 + 7d
Douglasv'l, Marietta, Norcross - 6 + 7d
Duluth, Stockbridge - 5 + 7d
Jonesboro, Smyrna - 3 + 7d
A bit of 2L+5N was still around.
Between '61 and '65
The Tucker (Brockett Road) CO was split out of the Stone Mtn. CO. Prefix: 938.
Prefixes and COs as of 1961:
23x - Buckhead (Peachtree Road)
25x - Sandy Springs (Roswell Road)
28x - Decatur (Columbia Drive)
34x - Ben Hill
37x - Decatur (East Lake Drive)
42x - Marietta (Powder Springs Street)
43x - Smyrna (Atlanta Road)
44x - Clarkston and Norcross, and Dallas
(Clarkston became "Indian Creek" 29x later on)
45x - Chamblee
46x - southwest metro (Palmetto, Fayetteville/Ptree City/Tyrone)
47x - small outlying COs
48x - east metro (Conyers, Lithonia)
49x - Stone Mountain
52x - Downtown (51 Ivy, became 70 Courtland after divestiture)
62x - Lakewood
63x - Toco Hills (N. Druid Hills Road)
68x - Downtown (51/70)
75x - West End
76x - Tri-Cities
79x - Hollywood Road
87x - Midtown (Peachtree Place/10th St.)
92x - small outlying COs
93x - Tucker (Brockett Road)
94x - small outlying COs, mainly west metro
96x - small outlying COs
97x - small outlying COs, mainly northwest metro
99x - Roswell
COs that didn't come until later: Adamsville, Gresham, Woodland Hills in Atlanta; Powers Ferry Road area in Cobb County [split from Smyrna]; Dunwoody in DeKalb County [split from Chamblee]; Peachtree City in Fayette County [split from Fayetteville]; Morrow and Riverdale in Clayton County [split from Jonesboro and/or Forest Park]; Lilburn in Gwinnett County [split from Tucker and/or Lawrenceville].
1962
Acworth and Woodstock (both adjacent to Marietta) became local. (There may have been EAS from Marietta to these two. I haven't looked at any Marietta phone books lately.)
(Woodstock became EAS to Canton sometime afterward; Canton did NOT become local to "all metro" as it was/is served by an independent. It did in 1992, however.)
1964
The rest of Gwinnett and Henry counties, and the Dallas area (Paulding county), became local.
1965
Bell finally switched to 411 for DA and 611 for repair.
1966
Loganville, in Walton County, became local. (Monroe, the other main town in Walton County, was/is served by an independent and didn't become local until 1992. I'm not sure if Loganville [only] was EAS to Monroe at any time prior to 1992.)
No new areas added to EAS until the 1990s.
Between '65 and '69
Eastern Cobb County was split out of the Marietta CO into a new one ("Marietta East", on Roswell Road.) Prefixes: 971 and 973.
[NOTE: The below was added since the Telecom Digest post]
1970s
The Dunwoody CO (the one I'm currently on) was formed.
[NOTE: The above was added since the Telecom Digest post]
1989
The "original" Atlanta metro local calling area wasn't all that big -- it only covered about ten whole counties and portions of several others (mainly because of COs straddling county lines.)
1992
NPA 404 needed relief; NPA 706 was assigned. At first, the plan for 706 was to put everyone outside the "original" local calling area in 706 -- but there was mass unrest from the masses in border areas such as Cartersville and Gainesville, and the 404 area was increased to about a dozen more counties (including the rest of the ones already partly in 404.) Areas far from Atlanta, such as Dalton, Columbus, Augusta, the Chattanooga suburbs in Georgia, etc. got 706.
The local calling area grew substantially -- it became all of NPA 404, as well as two small portions of Alabama [Fruithurst and Ranburne] served out of Georgia COs.
1995
NPA 404 needed relief again, and NPA 770 was assigned to areas outside the Perimeter (Interstate 285), with a couple of exceptions. Again, all of NPA 404/770 was a single local area.
A Pike County legislator passed a bill moving Concord and Zebulon, which were in NPA 706, into 770 -- but still staying outside of the metro calling area. Two areas in NPA 706 -- Braselton [which Kim Basinger bought, then sold] and Gay -- moved into the local calling area.
1996
Jasper in Pickens County (NPA 706) was added to the local calling area.
1997
The Big Canoe resort, the eastern fourth of Gordon County [mainly Fairmount] (all in NPA 706) and Concord and Zebulon (already in 770) became local.
Relief is needed for NPA 770 -- the Georgia PSC is deciding what to do. An overlay (of BOTH 404 and 770!) seems the likely solution.
So now, the local calling area for metro Atlanta is:
NPA 404 -- all
NPA 770 -- all
NPA 706 -- Braselton, Big Canoe [Pickens and Dawson counties], Fairmount/Ranger, Gay, Jasper
NPA 205 -- Fruithurst and Ranburne
There are a few areas on the edges of the Atlanta area [such as Adairsville, Gainesville, etc.] that can call additional areas *not* local to the entire area. [For example, Adairsville and Kingston can call Rome as local, but no one else in the metro area can.]
1998
Ten-digit dialing makes its debut, as does area code 678 -- overlaid on top of area codes 404 and 770.
Now the local calling area is:
NPA 404 -- all
NPA 678 -- all
NPA 770 -- all
NPA 706 -- Braselton, Big Canoe [Pickens and Dawson counties], Fairmount/Ranger, Gay, Jasper
NPA 205 -- Fruithurst and Ranburne
For the most part, the areas of local calling established in or before 1992 are not a problem -- they are all listed in the local phone books and are reachable from 95% of payphones, PBXs, etc. And people aren't afraid to call them for fear of toll charges (976 notwithstanding.)
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