The Area Code is 61 Today

Map of area codes in the United States as of 12 May 2011 (produced by NASA)



AT&T created the North American Numbering Plan back in 1947 to make long distance direct dialing easier. On Nov. 10, 1951, area codes were inaugurated when the mayor of Englewood, NJ direct dialed the mayor of Alameda, CA. Today, the North American Numbering Plan Administration is the organization that runs the telephone numbering system across North America as well as several other countries in this hemisphere.  The FCC has oversight  of  this organization.
According to the NANPA website, "NANP numbers are ten-digit numbers consisting of a three-digit Numbering Plan Area (NPA) code, commonly called an area code, followed by a seven-digit local number. The format is usually represented as NXX-NXX-XXXX where N is any digit from 2 through 9 and X is any digit from 0 through 9." So neither the area code nor the exchange can begin with a zero. The history of telephone numbers seems to be at once complicated and logical.