Area codes 214, 469, and 972

214, 469, and 972 are the North American telephone area codes for Dallas, Texas and most of the eastern portion of the Metroplex.

The main area code, 214, was one of the original area codes established in October 1947. It originally covered the entire northeastern quadrant of Texas, from Fort Worth to the border with Arkansas and Louisiana. The rotary dialing technology of the time generated 10 dial pulses per second, requiring a full second to dial a zero. Given this, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator wanted to keep dialing time to a minimum for densely populated areas. This saved time not only for a maximum number of telephone subscribers, but reduced congestion in the electromechanical telephone switching systems of the time. For this reason, Dallas-Fort Worth, which was well into a dramatic period of growth that continues to this day, was given an area code that required only seven dial pulses: 2 + 1 + 4.

In 1954, most of Tarrant County was combined with much of the eastern portion of area code 915 to form area code 817. In 1990, the entire eastern portion of the 214 area code was split off as area code 903.