Every April, golf’s most prestigious tournament transforms a quiet stretch of Georgia into a global media spectacle, and this area code is where it happens. The Masters Tournament, held annually in Augusta, draws worldwide attention to a corner of the state that spends the rest of the year known for considerably less glamorous things, military bases, textile manufacturing, and college town music scenes that quietly shaped American rock history.
North and West-Central Georgia, At a Glance
| Category | Details |
| State | Georgia, USA |
| Coverage Area | Augusta, Columbus, Athens, Rome |
| Went Into Service | May 3, 1992 |
| Time Zone | Eastern Time (EST: UTC-5 / EDT: UTC-4) |
| Overlay Code | 762 |
| Counties Covered | 52+ |
Splitting Away From an Overwhelmed Atlanta Code
Before 1992, virtually all of Georgia ran on a single code, 404, which had served the entire state since Atlanta’s original numbering plan. As Georgia’s population grew through the 1980s, that combined territory became unsustainable, and 706 split away on May 3, 1992, taking over the northern and west-central portions of the state while Atlanta itself kept 404.
Two Military Bases, Two Recent Renamings
Augusta hosts Fort Eisenhower, previously known as Fort Gordon, while Columbus is home to Fort Moore, formerly Fort Benning, both major US Army installations that underwent official renaming in recent years as part of a broader effort to remove Confederate namesakes from military bases. This code covers a genuinely unusual concentration of major military infrastructure, two significant installations within a few hours’ drive of each other, both carrying updated names that reflect a shifting chapter in how the military addresses its own history.
A College Town That Quietly Shaped American Rock Music
Athens carries a completely different identity within this same territory, anchored by the University of Georgia and a music scene that produced bands like R.E.M. and the B-52’s, groups that helped define an entire genre of American alternative rock starting in the late 1970s and early 1980s. That artistic legacy still shapes Athens’s downtown character today, layering a genuinely bohemian college-town culture onto a region otherwise associated with military bases and golf.
Where This Code Actually Reaches
706 spans a genuinely vast footprint across more than 52 counties:
- Augusta, Georgia’s second-largest city and home to the Masters
- Columbus, sitting along the Chattahoochee River with a growing whitewater rafting industry
- Athens, the university and music town
- Rome, Dalton, and LaGrange in the state’s northwestern reaches
Columbus in particular has built a genuine outdoor recreation identity around its Riverwalk and whitewater rafting course along the Chattahoochee, adding a tourism dimension distinct from its historical military and manufacturing base.
An Economy Spanning Carpets, Textiles, and Tourism
Dalton, sitting further north within this territory, carries the nickname “Carpet Capital of the World,” reflecting a genuine manufacturing concentration in flooring production that’s persisted for decades. Combined with Columbus’s textile heritage and Augusta’s golf tourism economy, this code covers one of Georgia’s more industrially diverse regions outside the Atlanta metro.
Why 762 Joined as an Overlay in 2006
Continued population growth across this large territory eventually pushed 706’s numbering pool toward exhaustion, and regulators introduced 762 as an overlay, with mandatory ten-digit dialing beginning April 3, 2006. Both codes now share identical territory across north and west-central Georgia, and NANPA’s original projections estimated the combined system would last at least 13 years before needing further relief.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Why do both major military bases in this region have recently changed names?
Fort Gordon in Augusta became Fort Eisenhower, and Fort Benning in Columbus became Fort Moore, both renamed as part of a broader federal effort to remove Confederate namesakes from US military installations in recent years.
Q2. Does a 706 number mean the caller is likely connected to the Masters Tournament or golf industry?
Not necessarily. While Augusta’s Masters Tournament draws global attention every April, this code also covers substantial military, manufacturing, education, and tourism activity across Columbus, Athens, and dozens of smaller Georgia communities.
Q3. Is a 706 number more valuable for a Georgia business than one from the 762 overlay?
There’s a mild historical edge to 706 as the original 1992 code, but both function identically for calls, texts, and business registration across the shared northern and west-central Georgia territory.
Q4. Can a business outside Georgia get a 706 number to establish a presence in this region?
Yes, virtual number providers commonly issue 706 or 762 numbers to businesses anywhere, letting them establish a north or west-central Georgia presence for tourism, manufacturing, or general business outreach without needing a physical office there.
