574 Area Code – South Bend, Indiana: Location, Time Zone & History

Area code 574 took effect on January 15, 2002, when the original 219 numbering plan area—assigned in the 1947 NANP—was split three ways. North-central Indiana, centered on South Bend and Elkhart, received the new code, while northwest Indiana kept 219 by random drawing and the Fort Wayne area became 260. A permissive dialing period let callers use either code until mandatory cutover on June 14, 2002.

Nearly two decades later, the numbering plan area changed again: on October 24, 2021, ten-digit local dialing became mandatory here to make room for the new 988 suicide-prevention line, which conflicted with an existing central office code. Beyond South Bend, the territory reaches Elkhart, Mishawaka, Goshen, Logansport, and Plymouth.

The region's economy is anchored by recreational vehicle manufacturing: Elkhart County is widely known as the "RV Capital of the World," with the bulk of global RV production concentrated there, a trailer-building tradition dating to the 1930s. South Bend adds higher education through the University of Notre Dame and carries an industrial legacy as the birthplace of the Studebaker wagon and carriage works, founded in 1852.