Area code 501 originally covered all of the state of Arkansas. It is one of the original 86 North American Numbering Plan areas assigned in 1947. As a result of population growth, area code 501 now covers only central Arkansas. South Arkansas as well as Northeast Arkansas is now area code 870, while northwest Arkansas is area code 479. Area code 501 is the original area code for the governor's mansion in Arkansas. The number was changed during Bill Clinton's years there. A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ... The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories: the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 Caribbean nations. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ...