<P> Before 1883 in the United States, most towns and cities set their own local time to noon when the sun was at its highest point in the sky . Since the sun reaches "high noon" four minutes later for every degree of longitude traveled towards the west, the time in every town was different . In Indiana, local mean time varied from GMT - 5: 39 in the east to GMT - 5: 52 in the west . With the emergence of the railroads, hundreds of miles could be traveled in a much shorter time, causing a train passenger to apparently experience several slight changes in time over the course of even a short rail trip . By 1883, the major railroads in the US agreed to coordinate their clocks and begin operating on "standard time" with four "time zones" established across the nation, centered roughly on the 75th, 90th, 105th, and 120th meridians west . On November 18, 1883, telegraph lines transmitted GMT to major cities, where each city was to adjust their official time to their proper zone . The state capital in Indianapolis lies at approximately the 86th meridian (U.S. Census Bureau), closer to the center of the Central Time Zone at the 90th meridian than the center of the Eastern Time Zone at the 75th meridian . </P> <P> Time zones were first adopted by the United States Congress with the Standard Time Act of 1918 . All of Indiana was located in the Central Time Zone . It was at this time the dividing line between Eastern Time and Central Time was moved from the Pennsylvania - Ohio state line to the Indiana--Ohio state line . Daylight saving time (DST) was included in the original Standard Time Act . A year later, Congress repealed daylight saving time from the Standard Time Act of 1918, though some communities continued to follow it . During World War II, daylight saving time was once again mandated by Congress to conserve energy . After the war, the mandate to observe daylight saving time was lifted again . </P> <P> In 1949, in a heated rural vs. city debate, the Indiana General Assembly passed a law to put all of Indiana on Central Standard Time and to outlaw daylight saving time . However, the law had no enforcement power, and it was largely ignored by communities who wanted to observe Eastern Standard Time . The Indiana General Assembly passed a law to make Central Time the official time zone of the state in 1957, but permitted any community to switch to daylight saving time during the summer . The law did, however, make it illegal for communities to observe "fast time" (i.e., daylight saving time) during the winter months . Governor Harold W. Handley vowed to enforce the law by withdrawing state aid from communities who attempted to observe "fast time" during the winter, though legal obstacles forced the Governor to back down from his stance . Once again, the law was not enforceable, as individual communities continued to observe whichever time zone they preferred . </P> <P> In 1961, the Indiana legislature repealed the 1957 law making Central Time the official time of Indiana, which allowed any community to observe DST . The Interstate Commerce Commission divided Indiana between the Central Time Zone and the Eastern Time Zone . Still, neither the time zone line nor daylight saving time were uniformly observed (see 50 FR 43745). The United States Congress later passed the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89--387 April 13, 1966; 80 Stat. 107--108; 15 U.S.C. § § 260--267) to specify where and when daylight saving time was applied in the U.S., and authority was shifted to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). Prior to the passing of this law, each state was permitted to decide this issue for itself . Having the state split in two time zones was inconvenient, however, so Governor Roger D. Branigin petitioned the USDOT to place all of Indiana back in the Central Time Zone a year later . </P>

Where does eastern time zone end in indiana