About Area Code 501
- Region Code
- 501
- City
- Little Rock
- State
- Arkansas
- Population
- 1,190,179
- Largest City
- Little Rock
- Time Zone
- Central Time
Arkansas
(501) Area Code 501 — Little Rock, Arkansas
501 Area Code – Little Rock, Arkansas: Location, Time Zone & History
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Map of Area Code 501
Available Phone Numbers
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History & Cultural Notes
Area code 501 was assigned in 1947 as one of the original North American Numbering Plan codes, covering the whole of Arkansas at a time when a single area code per state was common. Two later splits narrowed its footprint: 870 broke away in 1997 to serve eastern, southern, and rural northern Arkansas, and 479 followed in 2002 to cover the thirteen-county northwestern region around Fort Smith and Fayetteville. What remained was the central Arkansas territory anchored by Little Rock that 501 still serves.
The 501 region carries significant weight in American civil rights history: Little Rock Central High School was the site of the 1957 desegregation crisis involving the Little Rock Nine. The area is also home to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in downtown Little Rock, and to Little Rock Air Force Base in nearby Jacksonville, a major C-130 Hercules training base.
- State and federal government
- Healthcare, including the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
- Banking and finance
- Aerospace and defense
Beyond Little Rock, the numbering plan area also reaches North Little Rock, Conway, Hot Springs, and Cabot. Mandatory ten-digit local dialing took effect in October 2021 to free up the 988 code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.