The Broken Chair

A premise governing the designation of three-digit area codes-- to a state, or to regions within a state-- was that densely populated areas where the incoming call volume was heavy should have mostly low numbers...

Not so in Boston. There the Democratic machine thought the prospective apportionment would diminish their city. If the national pattern were followed, Boston residents would be forced to dial high numbers when placing calls to the western (and generally Republican) parts of Massachusetts. Meanwhile, callers to Boston from those western regions would enjoy the benefit of using lower numbers. City politicians moved to avert that disaster. In 1948 Democrats had won control of the state legislature for the first time in history, providing the city machine with even greater clout. Led by Mayor John Hynes, protests were made to New England Telephone and through it to AT&T. After negotiations, Boston gained an exception to the national plan, earning a 6-1-7 area code (high for a large city), and western Massachusetts received a lower 4-1-3.