“So, you know, it caught me by surprise.” With about half of South Dakota in Mountain Time and half in Central Time, some residents find themselves crossing the line daily. “So one night I thought, well, it’s only 10:20 … and all of a sudden I’m like, NO, it’s 20 after 11,” Greenfield told Cowboy State Daily. Just ask Brock Greenfield, a former South Dakota state legislator who has spent the last 25 winters in Pierre. “Everybody else in Fort Pierre runs on Central Time.”īut if your cellphone catches the wrong cell tower, you could find yourself in a scheduling nightmare.

“The only difference between here and Fort Pierre is the bars stay open an hour later,” said Roseanne Summerside, a resident of Pierre. Built on the original location of an early 1800s trading post, the town is one of the oldest continuous settlements in the West, celebrating its bicentennial in 2017.Īlthough Fort Pierre is located in the Mountain Time Zone, most residents of the city use Central Time because of the proximity of the capital city, Pierre, which is just across the river. Perched on the banks of the Missouri River, Fort Pierre is a town of just over 2,000 people in the center of the state of South Dakota. It happens all the time for people who live and work in Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Wendy will report regularly from the road about people and places within reach of the Cowboy State. Editor’s Note: Cowboy State Daily features writer Wendy Corr is traveling across the country as a musician with Cody-based Dan Miller’s Cowboy Music Revue.

Mountain time zone map