# U.S. cities and timezones/ state borders. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334 "2014-04-04T12:40:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/21 "2014-04-04T16:26:39Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > No. From **Saint Cad** ’s link I see that Idaho County, ID, is one such. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/22 "2014-04-04T16:31:32Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What does this actually mean in practice? What is the difference between an incorporated place and an unincorporated place? If I live in the latter, do I miss out on local services? Do I pay less taxes? Yes, you receive fewer services in unincorporated areas, and yes, you pay less taxes. There isn’t any city government at all and hence no city regulations or taxes. All the government in an unincorporated area is administered at the county level. I could go into more detail but it might hijack the discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/23 "2014-04-04T16:39:26Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > From **Saint Cad** ’s link I see that Idaho County, ID, is one such. Any others? You mean of where they don’t follow county lines? Stanley County, SD and Sioux County, ND. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/24 "2014-04-04T16:45:15Z")
There’s also Cherry County, NE ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/25 "2014-04-04T16:55:15Z")
Also the southern part of Malheur County in Oregon is Pacific, not Mountain time. More about these anomalies are found [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_time_zone). There’s quite a few. Two municipalities in Nevada adhere to Mountain time: Jackpot and West Wendover. Jackpot’s anomaly is “off the books”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/26 "2014-04-04T18:12:05Z")
Jones County, SD used to have split time zones until a few years ago when they moved the Central Time Zone line further west to the county line. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/27 "2014-04-04T18:38:31Z")
It used to be that Indiana didn’t go on Daylight Saving, but Ohio did, so part of the year they had the same time, part not. Someone phoned a store, inquiring about hours open. Store said they were open 24 hours. Question: is that Indiana or Ohio time? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/28 "2014-04-04T18:58:20Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > sh-t! ninja’d! Saskatchewan is generally ahead of Alberta. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/29 "2014-04-04T19:03:14Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > If states can create powerful port authorities by compact ratified by Congress, why couldn’t they create joint municipalities by the same method? None _have_, but is it actually totally impossible if you assume no political resistance? Port authorities have no power to exercise jurisdiction over the citizens who inhabit them. They are not “of the people”. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/30 "2014-04-04T19:20:06Z")
Ninjad on Lloyd, but I was curious about time zones as Saskatchewan does not succumb to the bane of some’s existance, daylight savings time. Off to wiki: > [@](#): > > Lloydminster’s distinctive situation is reflected in other legal matters, including its time zone. Most of Saskatchewan does not observe daylight saving time, instead staying on Central Standard Time year-round. However, Alberta mandates daylight saving time. Lloydminster’s charter allows the city to follow Alberta’s use of daylight saving time on both sides of the provincial border in order to keep all clocks within the city in sync. This has the effect of placing Lloydminster and the surrounding area in the Mountain Time Zone along with Alberta. During the summer, the entire province is on UTC−06:00—Mountain Daylight Time in Lloydminster and Central Standard Time in the rest of the province. During the winter, Lloydminster is on Mountain Standard Time with the rest of Alberta, which is UTC−07:00. So you’re really only ahead of Alberta for part of the year **Northern Piper**. Did I get that right? It’s so confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/31 "2014-04-04T21:27:19Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > It’s a bit of a tricky concept to get your head around for someone who lives in the UK. Here, every scrap of land, urban or rural, falls within a local council area, so there’s no such thing as an “unincorporated” area. AFAIK there’s _some_ kind of local government for pretty much everywhere in the US outside of Alaska, but in an unincorporated area it might just be a county or township with very few powers. (Each state makes its own rules for what each type of local government can do, so there is no general rule for what a particular type of place can do.) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/32 "2014-04-04T21:45:31Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > You mean of where they don’t follow county lines? > > Stanley County, SD and Sioux County, ND. Also McKenzie and Dunn county in North Dakota. In most of the state, the dividing line between Mountain and Central time is the Missouri river (which is also usually a county line), but right before it gets to Montana for some reason it changes to the Little Missouri river which is a tiny little river. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/33 "2014-04-04T23:08:49Z")
21 Miles North of El Paso is Anthony Texas/New Mexico. Walk across the street and you’re in another state. Anthony, Tx was incorporated in 1952 and the schools are part of the Anthony (TX) Independent School District. Across the street Anthony NM incorporated in 2010 and the schools are part of the Gadston (NM) School District. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/34 "2014-04-04T23:48:14Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Before Indiana joined the civilized world and accepted Daylight Saving Time the towns of Union City Indiana and Union City Ohio would be out of sync by an hour for half the year. The locals called it “Indiana Time” half of the year and yes they strictly held to it. > > I worked in Union City Indiana and lived in Ohio. We had a representative from the Franklin Planner company come over and give a seminar on how to manage your time effectively; the company told her to be there at 8:00 a.m. Indiana time. She stayed at the only decent hotel in the area which was in Ohio and showed up an hour late because no one from outside of the local area had any idea what the freak Indiana Time meant. > > Someone in my company reported back that she was late for the seminar and she got fired because of it. Damn Indiana Time hicks. I used to travel for work right on the Indiana/Ohio border (Richmond, IN and New Paris, OH). The motel I always stayed in was technically in Ohio but it was RIGHT on the border meaning the state line and the time-zone division was in the parking lot. Those people were more obsessed with time accuracy than any other people I have ever met in my life. They didn’t use the standard terms like Eastern and Central time. It was always ‘Indiana time’ and ‘Ohio time’. Even signs and casual notices had it noted. I never thought that much about time-zones until I worked there except for things like TV schedules. It somehow came up many times a day there even for mundane things. Every single reference to a time had to be clarified as to what the person really meant. I found it more amusing than irritating but it was definitely strange. There are streets in that immediate area that are exactly on the line and one set of neighbors may be operating an hour off from their neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/35 "2014-04-05T00:45:43Z")
Not quite what the OP is looking for, but [Broomfield, Colorado](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broomfield,_Colorado), which is north of Denver, used to lie in four separate counties, Boulder, Adams, Jefferson, and Weld. They petitioned the state in 1998 to become a consolidated city-county government, and in 2001, Broomfield County became Colorado’s 64th county. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/36 "2014-04-05T04:57:48Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In Canada, there is the City of Lloydminster (Sask) and the Town of Lloydminster (Alberta), which do operate as a single municipality via interlocking legislation passed by the two provincial legislatures. The entire city of Lloydminster is considered to be in both provinces at once, a situation called “condominim”[sup]1[/sup]. Not sure what happens when the laws of the two provinces conflict, but I’m sure they’ve worked out some compromise. Residents are considered to be citizens of both provinces for various adminsitrative purposes, notably getting in-province tuition at both provinces’ universities. I think there’s something similar at Flin Flon on the other side of Saskatchewan. Most of Flin Flon is in Manitoba, but a small part on the south[sup]2[/sup] is in Sask. I don’t know the details, but I wouldn’t expect it to be the same as Lloydminster, since the situation isn’t nearly as symmetric. [sup]1[/sup] I bet you thought “condominium” only meant an apartment that’s owned individually. [sup]2[/sup] The border between Sask and Manitoba is north-south, but it has several east-west jags. Flin Flon is at one of these jags. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/37 "2014-04-05T10:40:49Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > 21 Miles North of El Paso is Anthony Texas/New Mexico. Walk across the street and you’re in another state. Anthony, Tx was incorporated in 1952 and the schools are part of the Anthony (TX) Independent School District. Across the street Anthony NM incorporated in 2010 and the schools are part of the Gadston (NM) School District. And of course, the line dividing Central and Mountain time is generally drawn down the borders of the states of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, but El Paso (and some of the immediate east) is in Mountain time. I think I may have technically changed time zones last time I drove from Carlsbad for a stretch there going through the Guadalupe Mountains towards El Paso on US-180 on my way back to Las Cruces but it’s not like there was anywhere to stop anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/38 "2014-04-05T15:31:49Z")
Here’s a question that I’ve been curious about. Many (Most? All?) states require you to register your car in their state if you live there. There are also states that require you to register your car if you work in the state (Arizona is one). What happens if you live in one state and work in another and are required to register your car in both? ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/39 "2014-04-05T16:06:44Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Not quite what the OP is looking for, but [Broomfield, Colorado](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broomfield,_Colorado), which is north of Denver, used to lie in four separate counties, Boulder, Adams, Jefferson, and Weld. They petitioned the state in 1998 to become a consolidated city-county government, and in 2001, Broomfield County became Colorado’s 64th county. It is fairly common in some states for county lines to run through a city or town. As has already been mentioned, all units of local government (cities, towns, counties, etc.) are state creations, and in some states (at least) cities and counties perform such different functions that it wasn’t deemed necessary to require their boundaries to allign. That does tend to create some confusion, especially if you also factor in school districts (who’s boundaries may have little to do with city or county boundaries.) ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334/40 "2014-04-05T16:18:11Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > If states can create powerful port authorities by compact ratified by Congress, why couldn’t they create joint municipalities by the same method? None _have_, but is it actually totally impossible if you assume no political resistance? I think its possible in theory, but there would be a lot of complications besides just “political resistance.” For example, each state has its own laws about exactly what powers local governments have and how they relate to the state goverment as well as other levels of local government (such as counties.) Part of the reason that there are no such multi-state municipalities may be that it is less of an administrative headache just to set up separate municipalities on each side of the state line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-cities-and-timezones-state-borders/685334.md?page=3)