As the number of phones in the United States grew throughout the 1990s, phone companies and the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) had to come up with new area codes to handle them all. In a rare instance of bureaucratic humor, the NANPA announced that the new area code for Brevard County, Florida, the home of Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, would be 321, as in “3…2…1…Liftoff!"
Brevard County resident Robert Osband appeared before the Florida Public Service Commission to request this fitting and creative area code. Although the area code 321 had already been assigned to a suburb of Chicago, a little lobbying by the Florida PSC got the assignment changed. The Space Coast’s new area code became official on 1 November 1999.
Life on the Space Coast:
- The 2010 population of Brevard County was 543,376, making it the 10th-largest county in Florida.
- About 8,500 people currently work at Kennedy Space Center, down from 15,000 in 1997.
- The 2000 US Census reported that the median household income in Brevard County was $40,099 (USD).
