West Virginia
(681) Area Code 681 — Charleston, West Virginia
681 Area Code – Charleston, West Virginia: Location, Time Zone & History
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Map of Area Code 681
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History & Cultural Notes
West Virginia is known as the "Mountain State," an identity cemented in popular culture by John Denver's 1971 song "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which remains closely tied to how the state is perceived nationally. It is against that backdrop that area code 681 entered service, becoming the numbering identity layered over an entire state already served by a single code.
681 was activated on March 28, 2009, as an all-state overlay on 304. The path there was deliberate: the state Public Service Commission weighed a geographic split before voting on January 29, 2008, and ultimately approved the overlay on February 13, 2008. Permissive ten-digit dialing began by July 26, 2008, and mandatory ten-digit dialing took effect that February before new numbers went live. The result was the first case in North America of a state previously covered by one area code choosing an overlay instead of splitting into separate territories.
Beyond Charleston, the 304/681 complex covers Huntington, Wheeling, Morgantown, Parkersburg, and Beckley. The state's economy reflected in this territory includes:
- Coal mining and energy
- Chemical manufacturing
- Natural gas
- Tourism and outdoor recreation
- Healthcare