California
(831) Area Code 831 — Salinas, California
831 Area Code – Salinas, California: Location, Time Zone & History
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Map of Area Code 831
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History & Cultural Notes
The Salinas Valley, John Steinbeck's "Salad Bowl of the World," carries its own area code, 831, split off from area code 408 on July 11, 1998, after a permissive dialing period ending in February 1999. The split drew a line through what had been the Silicon Valley numbering plan area: San Jose, Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, and Gilroy stayed on 408, while Santa Cruz, Salinas, Monterey, and Hollister moved to 831, an area code that has never been overlaid.
Salinas is Steinbeck's birthplace and namesake of the National Steinbeck Center, and the region's identity runs through both literature and industry:
- Agriculture centered on the Salinas Valley's lettuce and vegetable production
- Tourism around Cannery Row, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Pebble Beach's golf resorts
- Marine and environmental research, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the Naval Postgraduate School
- Viticulture in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Salinas Valley wine regions
Santa Cruz adds UC Santa Cruz and its historic beachfront boardwalk, and the Monterey Jazz Festival, founded in 1958, remains the world's longest continuously running jazz festival, all within a numbering plan area of about 774,000 people across Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties.