251 Area Code – Mobile, Alabama: Location, Time Zone & History

Southwestern Alabama's identity runs through 251, the code carved out of area code 334 on June 18, 2001, after the older code neared exhaustion along the Gulf Coast. The Alabama Public Service Commission approved the split unanimously, and a permissive dialing period let residents adjust to the new code until January 7, 2002. The region later adopted mandatory 10-digit local dialing in 2021, a change tied to the nationwide rollout of the 988 crisis line.

Mobile anchors the territory, but the 251 footprint extends to Daphne, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Foley, stitching together Gulf Coast communities that range from working port towns to beach resort destinations. That mix of maritime industry and coastal leisure shapes daily life across the area as much as any single city does.

Culturally, Mobile carries a distinction few American cities can claim: the longest continuous Mardi Gras tradition in the United States, with Carnival celebrations dating back to 1703. The Cowbellion de Rakin Society added to that legacy in 1830 by staging the country's first organized masked parade, a tradition that still echoes through the region's civic calendar and sense of local pride today.

• Port and maritime shipping
• Shipbuilding
• Aerospace manufacturing
• Steel production
• Tourism along the Gulf Coast beaches