Area code 612 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The numbering plan area comprises the city of Minneapolis and a few surrounding municipalities such as Fort Snelling, St. Anthony, and Richfield. Geographically, it is the smallest area code in the state of Minnesota. The area code is one of the two original area codes in the 1947 nationwide numbering plan for the state, when it was assigned to a much larger area, including the entire Twin Cities region and a wide area surrounding it. History When the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) created the first nationwide telephone numbering plan in 1947, Minnesota was divided into two numbering plan areas (NPAs), which were identified with area codes 612 and 218. According to historical maps, 612 comprised roughly the southeastern third of Minnesota. The rest of the state received area code 218, which formed an r-shaped region around the 612 NPA. The separating line extended westward from Duluth to the center of the state, then south through the center. In 1954, the state's area code boundaries were redrawn and the state was divided into three numbering plan areas. 612 was rotated to cover most of the central portion of Minnesota, stretching border to border from Wisconsin through the Twin Cities to South Dakota. In the process, it absorbed some of 218's southern portion, including St. Cloud and Alexandria. Part of the southern portion of the original 612 territory, including Rochester and Mankato, was combined with the southwestern portion of 218 to form the new area code 507. The 218 region was reshaped to be more square, absorbing much of the old 612's northeastern portion, and now consisted of roughly the northern half of the state. This configuration remained in place for 42 years. In 1996, the northern and western portion of 612, including almost all of its territory outside of the Twin Cities, became area code 320. This was intended as a long-term solution. However, the continued growth of the Twin Cities and the proliferation of cell phone and pager services pushed 612 back to the brink of exhaustion within a year. In 1998, the 612 region was roughly split in half, mostly following the Mississippi River. Minneapolis and the area west of the Mississippi retained the old code, while most of the area east of the Mississippi, including