CentralChat first started in early 2000 when several channel owners had a disagreement with the operators of another network. Thanks to a link from a popular Harry Potter fan site, CentralChat's usercount grew quickly. Due to the overwhelming number of younger users (the founder himself was 12 years old at the time), CentralChat adopted a 'family-friendly' policy for it's official channels - a policy which still remains today.

CentralChat has been through a lot over the years, including several attacks by former network administrators, some of which severely reduced the user count, but is still up and running today providing a free service to the online community.

A more detailed history is available at http://www.centralchat.net/about/history