How Indiana went from ‘God’s time’ to split zones and daylight-saving
An Indiana lawmaker wants Indiana to move to the Central Time Zone. But he believes he has a good reason: Such a change could save children's lives, Sen. Eric Bassler says. Dwight Adams, email@example.com
The renowned physicist Stephen Hawking described 13 billion years of the cosmos in a 200-page book, but he had it easy. The history of time — in Indiana — seems a lot more complicated.
Here are some of the key moments along the way:
1883: The sun decides the time
Before the railroads, time is simple. "Noon" is when the sun is highest in the sky, and most towns have a prominent clock on the town hall or a church.
But railroad travelers changing trains find that each railroad sets its clocks differently -- and those times don't match the town clocks.
In 1883, the major railroads agree to coordinate their clocks and begin operating on "standard time" with four "time zones" established across the nation. For Indianapolis, this means that, according to the railroads, noon arrives at 12:16 p.m. Newspaper editorial writers express outrage and call for local clocks to remain on "God's time."
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1917-19: Welcome daylight-saving time
Congress passes the Standard Time Act, adopting similar time zones and giving authority over the boundaries to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The law also introduces "daylight-saving time," a concept first promoted by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 but not put into widespread practice until European countries adopted it during World War I to conserve fuel used for lighting.
Congress repeals daylight-saving time in 1919, though some communities continue to follow it.
1942-45: Wavering on daylight-saving time
During World War II, daylight-saving time is again invoked by the federal government for conservation purposes, but after the war, the mandate is lifted.
1949: An Indiana time zone bill causes mayhem
By the late 1940s, the use of day-light-saving time -- known as fast time -- has become popular in cities. Indiana is officially in the Central time zone, but some communities choose to follow fast time year-round, aligning themselves essentially with the Eastern time zone.
In 1949, the Indiana Senate quietly passes a bill that would keep the state on Central time and outlaw daylight-saving time. When the bill reaches the House, there is mayhem on the floor as legislators representing cities (which generally favor fast time) battle legislators from agricultural areas (where changing the clock at all is considered "unnatural" and "unhealthy for cows").
Lacking enough votes, the city faction tries to filibuster until time runs out on the session at midnight, but rural champion Rep. Herbert Copeland, R-Madison, leans over the gallery railing and forces the official clock back to 9 p.m., breaking it in the process. The clock sticks on 9 as the debate rages on into the night. The filibuster finally dies out and the bill passes, while outside the chamber, clocks read 3:30 a.m.
In the end, it doesn't matter which side won. The law has no enforcement powers and is simply ignored by fast-time communities.
1956: Central and Eastern go head to head
A nonbinding, statewide referendum is conducted in 1956, asking general election voters their preference on Eastern versus Central time and whether to use daylight-saving time in the summer months.
A slim majority favors Central time with no jump to daylight-saving time, but it is clear that Hoosiers are evenly divided on both questions. The only clear consensus that emerges is that most oppose the "double-fast time" that would result from being on Eastern Standard Time and switching to Eastern Daylight Time in the summer.
1957: Central time wins, DST optional
The General Assembly votes to make Central time the official time of the state but permit any community to switch to daylight-saving time during the summer. However, the law forbids communities from remaining on fast time during the winter months (which many communities were in the habit of doing).
Gov. Harold Handley vows to enforce the law by withdrawing state aid from communities that try to ignore it, but legal challenges soon poke holes in the new law's enforcement provisions, and Handley is forced to back down.
1961: 1957 law repealed
The General Assembly repeals the unpopular 1957 law but does not attempt to replace it, deferring instead to a new Inter-state Commerce Commission ruling moving the boundary between the Eastern and Central time zones from the Indiana-Ohio state line to the center of the state.
1966-67: Uniform DST
Congress passes the Uniform Time Act, making daylight-saving time uniform throughout the country but permitting states to exempt themselves, provided the whole state is exempt. Congress also shifts federal authority over time zones to the Department of Transportation.
1968-72: Time is different throughout Indiana
The Department of Transportation proposes a compromise in which most of Indiana would be on Eastern Standard Time year-round, while the Gary and Evansville areas would remain on Central time and follow daylight time in the summer. The department asks Congress to amend the Uniform Time Act to permit a state to exempt some counties from daylight time while others follow it.
In 1969, the Indiana General Assembly passes legislation enacting the proposed model, pending congressional approval -- but Gov. Edgar Whitcomb vetoes it. Whitcomb says the bill would make Indiana's times conflict with those of surrounding states, but he is accused of siding with the television broadcast lobby (which wants program schedules to conform to those on the East Coast).
The 1971 General Assembly votes to override Whitcomb's veto, and Congress approves the federal amendment, which is signed by President Richard Nixon in 1972.
2005: Mitch Daniels gets DST in all of Indiana
For more than 30 years, the system established in 1972 remained largely unchanged. Periodically, a DST bill would seem to have momentum in the Legislature only to languish in committee or be crushed by a floor vote. But in 2005 the political climate changed. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels made DST part of his economic plan, arguing that "Indiana Time" was bad for the state's economy because businesses outside of the state couldn't keep track of what time it was in Indiana. House Speaker Brian Bosma and other key legislative leaders also backed the change, but many lawmakers remained adamantly opposed, particularly those from western counties close to the Central Time border.
A DST bill sponsored by Rep. Gerald Torr, R-Carmel, lurched along through the 2005 legislative session and more than once it seemed to have been defeated. Although the Senate passed the bill by a solid majority, twice during the session the House voted it down, but by margins too slim to defeat it for the session. On April 28, 2005, with two days left in the session, the bill came up for a final vote and seemed to have have been defeated 49-51. But as the speaker held the vote open two legislators changed their minds and the measure passed.