Interstate 70 westbound and Highway 27 southbound bend as they enter Sherman County. Why? Because those roads cross an invisible boundary, an entrance into another time dimension, the Mountain Time Zone. Yes, Kansas does span two time zones. Four counties in Kansas are on Mountain Time, which makes sense. This is the western edge, highest in elevation. Goodland is the highest Kansas county seat.

 

Is life in The Zone always easy? No. When attending events in neighboring Central Time counties, we must clarify whether we're using "fast time" (Central) or "slow time" (Mountain). When we come home from Colby, we arrive Goodland before we left Colby. But the same trip eastbound requires nearly two hours. Now that is a time warp.

 

Kansas used to have more Mountain Time counties. Time line zig-zagged across the western part of the state at railroad division points. But time zones tend to extend westward over time, a cheap way to get an extra hour of light in the evening. Sherman County has not been immune from efforts to leave The Zone. The most recent came in 2002. The Goodland Daily News conducted a straw poll, asking Sherman County voters whether they would like to switch to Central Time. Over 70 percent of voters said no. Mountain Time is part of Goodland's uniqueness.

 

 Let's do the time warp again!