Day 63: Dewey Decimal Area Codes

So we all know I'm a nerd. I'm comfortable with that. I'm fascinated by both classification systems and symbolism, so sometimes my brain makes strange leaps, like this one. I've looked up the Dewey Decimal System equivalents for various area codes throughout the country. I got the idea when I first discovered that my area code, 425, leads to English grammar, and I thought that was appropriate. And since today is National Grammar Day, I'll proudly share this bit of nerdity with you all.

First of all, a quick primer in Dewey. It's divided into 10 basic sections under these broad headings:

000s - Generalities
100s - Philosophy & Psychology
200s - Religion
300s - Social Sciences
400s - Language
500s - Natural Sciences & Math
600s - Technology (Applied Sciences)
700s - The Arts
800s - Literature & Rhetoric
900s - Geography & History

If you want to know more than this, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Away we go...

First, the area codes closest to home:

Seattle - 206 - Organizations of Christianity
Donut around Seattle (Bellevue/Lynnwood/Renton) - 425 - English grammar (yay!)
Donut around the aforementioned donut - 360 - Social services
The rest of Western Washington - 253 - Pastoral theology
Eastern Washington - 509 - Historical, areas, persons treatment in Natural Sciences & Math (whatever that means)

For the rest, I'm only listing ones that I think are somewhat interesting (I won't bother explaining the odd ways my brain works sometimes). Keep in mind that most major cities have more than one area code, and I may not list all of them when I mention a city.

Los Angeles - 323 - Civil & political rights
Los Angeles - 310 - General statistics
Los Angeles - 213 - Creation
San Diego - 619 - Experimental medicine
San Francisco - 415 - Structural systems (grammar)
Denver - 720 - Architecture
Miami - 786 - Keyboard & other instruments
Miami - 305 - Social groups
Atlanta - 678 - Elastomers & elastomer products
Hawaii - 808 - Rhetoric & collections of literature
Chicago - 708 - Galleries, museums, private collections
New Orleans - 504 - number not assigned or no longer used
Portland OR - 503 - Dictionaries & encyclopedias in Natural Sciences & Math
Boston - 617 - Surgery & related medical specialties
Las Vegas - 702 - Miscellany in the Arts
Manhattan - 917 - North America
Manhattan - 646 - Sewing, clothing, personal living
Manhattan - 212 - Existence, attributes of God
Cleveland - 216 - Good & evil
Dallas - 469 - Portuguese
Dallas - 214 - Theodicy
Houston - 713 - Landscape architecture of traffic ways (ha!)
Houston - 281 - Early church & Eastern churches
Idaho - 208 - Kinds of persons in Christianity
West Virginia - 304 - Factors affecting social behavior
Wyoming - 307 - Communities

I'm sure there are some awesome ones out there waiting to be found. Or maybe there aren't. Anyway, the awesomest one is my own area code, followed closely by Cleveland.

If I didn't list your area code, go to a library website and see what kind of stuff is under that call number, or find the subject heading on this list.

Now I want to do this for phone number prefixes...