# Texas timezone history # compiled by Jules Descartes September 2011 # published under Creative Commons license # http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en # Sources: # Doris Chase Doane, Time changes in the USA (quoted as DCD) # Thomas Shanks, American Atlas, various editions (quoted as Shanks) # Newspaper archives accessible via Internet # # visual map posted to Wikimedia # http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_timezones.jpg # # We propose three zone files # For the first of them, the standard tzdata definitions are fine # Far western Texas (El Paso County, Hudspeth County, # and Pine Springs and Nickel Creek in Culberson County) # has MST since 1883 Link America/Denver America/El_Paso # The main part of Texas has always CST. Contrary to what tzdata file # northamerica claims, it is not like America/Chicago, as it had not DST in # 1936. We name it after the most populous city Houston at 95w22 # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Houston -6:21:28 - LMT 1883 Nov 18 11:38:32 -6:00 US C%sT # The 'Panhandle and Plains' section of Texas has CST, but had a two year # period of MST between 1919 and 1921. A posting to the tzdata-history mailing # list provides original documents: # http://groups.google.com/group/tzdata-history/browse_thread/thread/5e0d0d24ba438e4c # In short: A US goverment decision in March 1918 announced a change in time # zone boundaries. The CST/MST boundary was to run through Texas roughly along # the meridian 100w, with a bulge to the west around the towns of Sweatwater, # Big Springs and San Angelo, stating 1919 Jan 1 at 02 am. The local Panhandle # and Plains chamber of commerce was not happy in 1919 to be in another time # zone than the more populated south-east of the state, and they petitioned a # change. # A US congress decision of 1921 March 4 became part of the Unit States Code # as section 265 and movs the Panhandle and Plain area back to CST. For the # data, we follow Shanks the change date of 1921 Mar 27. We assume that the # 1919 DST was observed like in the rest of the US. # # The zone is named after the largest town in the panhandle Amarillo, 101w50. # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone America/Amarillo -6:47:20 - LMT 1883 Nov 18 11:12:40 -6:00 US C%sT 1919 Jan 1 02:00 -7:00 US M%sT 1921 Mar 7 02:00 -6:00 US C%sT