What time is it in Indiana? began as a curriculum-integration project for a group of 8th graders in 1997. The product is a chart which simply answers the question: What time is it in Indiana?. What is 'Indiana Time?' is material that has been added since 1998.

We have added research links after the Indiana chart and discussion. In addition, staff at the Bloomington (IN) Herald-Times have unearthed some historical tidbits, published in the Tuesday, 27 February 2001, Hotline. We have added an historical section, using both that information and information gathered by the students but left off the original page. We have a explanation of the differences between the Navajo Reservation (which extends into New Mexico) and The Hopi Partitioned Land in Arizona. And just in, a commentary on the impact of "Chicago Time or South Bend Time?" on school districts in the northwest corner of Indiana.

The concept of student-driven curriculum project, using technology as a presentation, data-gathering, project-development resource is now the centerpiece in a full-blown two year staff development effort by the MCCSC. Visit our Good Teaching Through Technology page to follow this project.

1. 77 counties (including state capital Indianapolis are in the Eastern Time Zone but do not change to Daylight time in April; instead they remain on Standard Time all year long; [yellow on map and chart]
   
2. 10 counties -- five near Chicago, IL, and five near Evansville, IN, are in the Central Time Zone and use both Central Standard and Central Daylight; [red on map and chart] and
   
3. five other counties -- two near Cincinnati, OH, and three near Louisville, KY -- are in the Eastern Time Zone but use both Eastern Standard and Eastern Daylight. [green on map and chart]
   

'Indiana Time' is Eastern Standard Time [EST], with some exceptions.

Many believe that Indiana changes time zones in the Summer. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that in the Winter, most of Indiana is the same time as New York (which is also Eastern), and in the Summer, Indiana is the same time as Chicago (which is Central).

Actually, by going to Daylight time in April, the Central Zone Springs ahead from Standard to CDT, which is the same as Eastern Standard (Indiana time). By switching from Eastern Daylight (EDT) to Standard in October, the rest of the Eastern Zone Falls back to EST (Indiana time). Indiana and Hawaii are constants -- always Standard time.

["Arizona can be confusing, as well. The Arizona portion of the Navajo reservation, which consists of most the northeastern corner of the state, DOES observe DST. And to further complicate matters, the Hopi Partitioned Land, which lies in the midst of the Navajo reservation, follows the the Arizona standard, remaining on Mountain Standard Time year round." -- courtesy of Kent Fletcher.]

In 1949, the Indiana State Legislature placed Indiana in the Central zone. From 1949 to 1957, the state was riddled with both Central and Eastern areas, some practicing Daylight time, some not. In 1957, the legislature put the entire state on Central Standard Time -- but made only Indianapolis a participant in Daylight Saving Time. [Interestingly, the 1966 Uniform Time Act now reserves establishing which time zone to the Federal government but still allows the State to determine participation in Daylight Saving Time.]

[At least one source reports that "Indianapolis Time worked its way eastward along the US 40 corridor to near the Ohio border." The November 22 and 25, 2004, Stephanie Salter articles for the Terre Haute [IN] Tribune-Star (and reprinted in the Kokomo [IN] Tribune) indicate that Indiana was "split down the middle" in 1961, except for Marion County (Indianapolis) and the five counties to the north, west and south -- Hamilton, Boone, Hendricks, Morgan and Johnson, which were on Eastern.

The 1961 Central zone began with St. Joseph in the north and went south through Marshall, Fulton, Miami, Howard and Tipton -- until it reached Hamilton. It swung west through Clinton to Tippecanoe and south again through Montgomery, Putnam and Owen. There, it veered east through Monroe, Brown and Bartholomew until turning south through Jackson and Washington and southwest through Crawford and Perry to the Ohio River.

Indianapolis (central), Fort Wayne (and the northeast), Richmond (the east) and the southeast Ohio River counties anchored the Eastern time zone in Indiana. The Chicago area (northwest), Terre Haute (west), Bloomington (west-central) and Evansville (southwest) were the major areas in Indiana's Central time zone.

The US Uniform Time Act of 1966 places Indiana in the Eastern time zone. In 1968, Network TV broadcasters in New York City brought suit against US Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd for failing to enforce the 1966 legislation. DOT allegedly told Indiana legislators they could work out different time zone boundaries. The media won their case, enjoining DOT from "not enforcing" the DST provisions of the act.

In 1969, six (6) counties in the Chicago (Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, and Starke) and five (5) counties in the Evansville (Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick) corners of the state were moved to the Central time zone, where they also use Central Daylight Time. Two (2) counties near Cincinnati (Dearborn and Ohio) and three (3) near Louisville (Clark, Floyd and Harrison), while in the Eastern zone with the remaining 77 counties, observe Eastern Daylight Time. This observation of DST in the 15 counties is "unofficial," never having been approved by the state legislature.

[According to the Indiana Film Commission Online, three times during the 1980's, Starke, a northwest (Chicago area) county, Starke, petitioned to be shifted from Eastern to Central. The Film Commission, reports that DOT approved the change in 1991. However, as stated elsewhere, information from 56 Federal Register 13609 and 56 Federal Register 51997, Page 2 of 2, indicates that the petitions from Starke (and Jasper) counties were to be removed from Central and placed in Eastern.]

Indiana State law, however, is allowed by the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to keep those 77 counties Eastern Standard Time (EST) all year long.

From 1973-1975, Indiana and the US observed Daylight time following the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. On January 6, 1974, implementing the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act, clocks were set ahead for a fifteen-month period through April 27, 1975. This experiment worked, but Congress did not continue the experiment in 1975 because of opposition -- mostly from the farming states.

[End of Original Student Project]

'Chicago Time or South Bend Time?'

"Last winter I gave a 'Speech to Inform' at a Toastmaster club about the school district time zone commitments of the area in which I grew up. I learned that my description confused people ...even with 'graphics.' H'mm. Perhaps it is confusing ...

"La Porte County is the third county in Indiana east of the Chicago area. It considers itself economically tied to the Chicago region and follows the Central time zone as needed.

"In the northeast portion of this county are four townships (Galena, Kankakee, Wills, Hudson) tied in with Olive Township in the eastern adjacent county of St. Joseph, where South Bend, IN and Notre Dame University are located. East of Olive Township is Warren Township ..if memory serves me correctly. Ref.: New Prairie School district (New Carlisle and Rolling Prairie, IN).

"Situation ...dating from about 1965 to the present: If the school zone didn't have consistent pickup policies for its kids, then it may be that two separate hourly pickups would have to be arranged.

"If the Warren Township and the Olive Township bus driver cycles were matched then an extra $60,000 (in 1965 $) per year expenses would be avoided.

"Thus, the school district time zone is set for the Eastern zone, even four years later.

"As people live in one county and may work in another, everyone will be disturbed to some fashion, no matter which choice may be selected, even if they don't have children in the school system. A routine winter question for residents of these townships may be: 'Chicago time or South Bend time?'"

courtesy of
Bob Russell, CPIM, PMP
EDS - E Solutions/PMC-Midwest
MS 6229
750 Tower Drive, 6th floor
Troy, MI 48098

Most Hoosiers expected that, effectively, the 77 counties which now stay on Eastern Standard Time 12 months would change to DST along with five other Indiana counties and the rest of the US next Spring. The petitions to US DoT were to determine whether that DST would be Eastern Daylight or Central Daylight.

If Eastern, then it was expected that Indiana would have at least those 77 counties, plus the 5 near Louisville and Cincinnati (82) on Eastern Daylight. If Central, then the 77 would join the current 5 around Evansville and the 5 near Chicago (87) on Central Daylight.

"At least" because the US DoT may decide that leaving the 10 on Central (if the state goes Eastern) or leaving the 5 on Eastern (if the state goes Central) would be violations of the "one zone per state" guideline. Thus, it is possible that by next Spring all 92 counties will be either Eastern Daylight or Central Daylight.

However, the federal government proposed Tuesday, October 25, 2005, that five (5) additional counties -- Knox, Perry, and Pike counties near Evansville in the southwest corner of the state, and St. Joseph and Starke counties in the northwest corner switch to Central time, while twelve (12) others which had petitioned for a change remain in the Eastern time zone. This would divide Indiana into 77 counties (the 77+5-5) on EST/EDT and 15 (10+5) on CST/CDT.

According to the Thursday, January 8, 2006, Bloomington Herald-Times, US DoT is recommending switching three (3) more (a total of eight (8)) counties -- Daviess, Dubois, and Martin counties near Evansville in the southwest corner of the state -- to the fifteen (15) already recommended for the Central zone. This would divide Indiana into 74 counties (the 77-3) on EST/EDT and 18 (15+3) on CST/CDT.

Ironically, Starke had originally been designated Central in 1966 until three petitions finally resulted in a move in 1991 of Starke to the Eastern zone. If this holds, it would return to its 1966 time zone.

In the Chicago area, DoT denied requests from Fulton, Marshall and Pulaski counties to move to Central. While Elkhart asked to stay Eastern, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said it would not be economically workable to separate Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, leaving Elkhart in the "possible" column.

Requests from the Lafayette area by Carroll, Cass and White counties were denied by DoT. Tippecanoe asked to remain Eastern, while Benton and Fountain had petitioned to change to Central and then withdrew their requests.

In the Terre Haute area, Vigo County on the Indiana-Illinois border had asked to remain Eastern, but Sullivan and Vermillion counties wanted to move to Central.

Near Evansville, DoT originally denied requests by Daviess, Dubois and Martin while adding Perry and Pike to the five (5) already Central, and then reversed that in January. Orange asked to remain Eastern. Farther north, near Bloomington, Lawrence County's request to be Central was denied.

When officials in Allen County (Fort Wayne) and Marion County (Indianapolis) asked to stay Eastern, other counties in those areas followed suit.

Some Historical Tidbits

The Standard Time Act of 1918 standardized the time zones first implemented by the railroads nearly 30 years before and mandated adoption of daylight time for the entire country. That mandate was repealed, under pressure from the states, in 1919. -- US Naval Observatory.

"The Department of the Navy serves as the country's official timekeeper, with the Master Clock facility at the Washington Naval Observatory"--National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993

The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) is established as the Department of Defense reference for time by DoD Directive 5160.51 of 14 Jun 85 and SECNAV Instruction 4120.20 of 04 Feb 86.

From the US Naval Observatory:

• At one time US railroads had nearly 300 time zones across the US. These were the times in local communities, on the clocks on churches or county buildings.
  
• Benjamin Franklin's An Economical Project, written in 1784 while a delegate to Paris, is the earliest known DST proposal.
  
• London builder William Willett could have been at home in Indiana. His proposal in 1907 was that clocks be moved ahead 20 minutes each Sunday in April and moved back 20 minutes each Sunday in October.
  
• In Russia, DST is a 2 hour adjustment.
  
• The 1966 act set the beginning date for the "last week in April" and the ending date as the "last Sunday in October." In 1986, President Reagan established the start as "the first Sunday in April."
  

Other Timely Resources:

Other Articles:
"Changing clocks a sore subject," Champaign-Urbana [IL] News-Gazette, 4 Apr 98
"Shedding light on saving time," Kokomo [IN] Tribune, 1 Apr 00 [link expired]
"Where you always have to check your watch," The Bergen Record, 6 Dec 66 [link expired]
"State one of three that doesn't spring forward, fall back,"
    Stephanie Salter, Terre Haute [IN] Tribune-Star, 22 Nov 04
"Time for a change," Stephanie Salter, for the Kokomo [IN] Tribune, 25 Nov 04

Starke County Research:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050429/NEWS02/504290511
In this state, the last change was Starke County's move to Eastern time in 1991.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/11463124.htm
Since 1967, seven counties have asked to be moved from Central to Eastern; only two of the requests were approved -- those from Pike and, after three tries, Starke.
Until the 2005 legislation, No county had ever asked to go from Eastern to Central.
Ten counties in northwestern and southwestern Indiana are in the Central time zone and already observe daylight-saving time to stay in sync with Illinois.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050429/NEWS02/504290498/1006/NEWS01
Currently, 82 Indiana counties are in the Eastern time zone, and 10 counties in northwestern and southwestern Indiana are in the Central time zone. The bill will validate five counties in southeastern Indiana that have been illegally observing daylight-saving time.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/4429678/detail.html
Five counties each in the northwest and southwest pockets of the state are in the Central zone and observe daylight time.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/11524795.htm
Counties on Central Daylight Time: Gibson, Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/breakingnews/posts/2976.html
That would allow St. Joseph and Starke counties -- Eastern time zone regions that abut the Central time zone -- to exempt themselves from daylight time.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050429/NEWS02/504290412
10 counties in northwestern and southwestern Indiana are in the Central time zone and observe daylight time.

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=16327
Consider, of the state's 92 counties, 77 are on Eastern time year-round, five observe Eastern Daylight time and 10 observe Central Daylight time.

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/usa/indiana/county/counties.htm
Starke County Eastern Time Zone

http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/zonehelp.tzc?cc=US&ccdesc=United%20States
America/Indiana/Knox Eastern Standard Time - Indiana - Starke County

Indiana Daylight Saving Time and Time Zone History
1967 - 1969 Six counties in Northwest Indiana (Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, and Starke) and six counties in Southwest Indiana (Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Gibson, and Pike) were placed in the Central Time Zone. The remainder of the state was placed in the Eastern Time Zone.
1981: Starke County requests to be moved from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone. The Department of Transportation did not find the requisite basis to change Starke County from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone.
1986 - 1987: Jasper County and Starke County petition the Department of Transportation to be moved from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone. The Department of Transportation denied the petitions of both counties.
1991: Starke County petitions the Department of Transportation to be moved from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone. The Department of Transportation grants the petition. Starke County is moved from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone effective October 27, 1991. (See 56 Federal Register 13609 and 56 Federal Register 51997) Page 2 of 2
2005: April 28, 2005, Indiana legislature votes to approve Daylight Saving Time for the entire state of Indiana and to petition the US Department of Transporation to hold hearings to determine the location of the dividing line between the Eastern and Central time zones, relative to Indiana.
2005: October 25, 2005, US DoT proposed that five additional Inidana counties switch to Central Time, denying the petitions of a dozen others. St. Joseph and Starke would join Jasper, Lake, Laporte, Newton and Porter in northwest Indiana and Knox, Perry and Pike would join Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick counties in southwest Indiana on Central Time.
2006: January 18, 2006, US DoT ruled that three additional southwest Indiana counties, Daviess, Dubois, Martin, would join Knox, Perry and Pike as new Central Time counties. The ruling reversed the status of both St Joseph, returning it to Eastern, and Pulaski, moving it to Central in northwest Indiana.

http://www.tribstar.com/articles/2004/11/22/news/news06.txt
Terry Kimmel, executive director of the Starke County Development Foundation Inc., for example, lives in Central zone LaPorte County but works in Eastern zone Starke County . Thus "two watches, different clocks in the house, etc," said Kimmel.