Standard Time

The nation's railroads operated under about fifty regional times. In 1881, fearing government intervention, railroad managers commissioned transportation publisher William Frederick Allen to devise a simpler plan. He proposed five time zones. The time in each zone was determined by the time at the central meridian within each zone. Each central meridian was fifteen degrees of longitude-one hour-apart. Allen launched a successful campaign to persuade railroads, businesses, journalists, politicians, and average citizens to support his plan. On November 18, 1883, at noon on the seventy-fifth meridian west of Greenwich, England—roughly four minutes after local noon in New York City—Standard Railway Time went into effect. Most railroads and communities switched to standard time, experiencing two noons—noon by local time and by standard time. Some people resented standard time. To them it represented a loss of local autonomy or a disregard for the authority of God and nature. Others, especially at the boundaries of each zone, objected to the noticeable aberration from sun time.