Old, old timers will remember when telephone subscribers the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula were assigned their first area code, 703. Old timers will recall when their area code changed to 804. They will keep 804, but soon, new customers will get a new area code.

The State Corporation Commission says population growth coupled with increasing demands for phones will result in the eventual exhaust of available 804 numbers.  Customers in the 804 area code overlay region will be assigned a 686 area code when requesting a new service or an additional phone line.  That area includes parts of the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and central Virginia.  Phone numbers will remain the same for those with 804 area codes, but 686 numbers will be given out after all available 804 numbers are taken.  The SCC says it expects area code 804 numbers to run out during the third quarter of this year.