FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Nowadays, when people need to call residents or businesses in cities such as Gary or Valparaiso, they will need to start dialing the “219” area code.
However, that area code used to apply to Fort Wayne and all of northern Indiana 25 years ago.
July 2026 marks 25 years since northeast Indiana and north central Indiana, which includes areas such as South Bend and Elkhart, lost the area code through a raffle overseen by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC).
Background
At the turn of the century, state and federal officials honed in on northern Indiana due to the increased risk of all “219” phone numbers being taken…