# Apostrophes removed by the BGN/Post Office **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108 "2022-02-08T14:38:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/1 "2022-02-08T14:38:51Z")
The BGN (US Board on Geographic Names) has a policy of not allowing possessive apostrophes in names. They’ve made a few exceptions over the years for natural features (notably Martha’s Vinyard), but as far as I can tell, none at all for names of towns. When the policy was first promulgated (1891), the Post Office did their best to remove apostrophes from town names. So far, the only one I can be sure of is Harpers Ferry, WV. Does anyone know of any others that lost their apostrophe? Note: they wouldn’t necessarily have been removed in 1891, but within a few years of that date. Also note that it was only possessive apostrophes, so, for example, Coeur d’Alene ID and the two O’Fallon’s (IL and MO) kept theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/2 "2022-02-08T14:54:58Z")
Dix’s Grant NH is officially Dixs Grant. There are several possessive names on mostly unpopulated townships in NH, I presume all the them are officially without apostrophes. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/3 "2022-02-08T15:19:27Z")
I always forget something when I start a thread. This time, I didn’t emphasize enough that I want places that lost their apostrophe **within a few years of 1891**. Any time in the 1890s will do. But I’d like some kind of cite, even if it’s just Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/4 "2022-02-08T15:31:07Z")
Any town names with (or missing) apostrophies in Hawaii? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/5 "2022-02-08T15:40:29Z")
Those aren’t, or rather, shouldn’t be apostrophes. They’re 'okinas: > **[ʻOkina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOkina)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The ʻokina (Hawaiian pronunciation: \[ʔoˈkinɐ\]), also called by several other names, is a unicameral consonant letter used within the Latin script to mark the phonemic glottal stop, in many Polynesian languages. > The ʻokina visually resembles a left single quotation mark (‘)—a small "6"-shaped mark above the baseline. > The Tahitian ʻeta has a distinct shape, like an ʻokina turned 90° or more clockwise.\[citation needed\] Keyboards don’t have that character, so the apostrophe is usually used instead. That is, when it’s not left out altogether. At any rate, even if they are apostrophes, they’re not possessive ones. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/6 "2022-02-08T15:46:07Z")
You think this would be easy to find, especially since an estimated 250,000 [!] apostrophes have been removed. > **[In U.S., Apostrophes in Place Names Are Practically Against the Law](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324244304578471252974458308)** > > The Domestic Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names doesn't like apostrophes. Visitors to Harpers Ferry or Pikes Peak might not realize it, but anyone aspiring to name a ridge or a swamp after a local hero will soon find out. That article also details the five exceptions. But I’m not finding any articles that do more than mention one or two, and those seldom give dates. Surprisingly, even Mark Monmonier’s _From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Mountain: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame_, a great small book I’d highly recommend, doesn’t have more than a glancing reference to possessives. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/7 "2022-02-08T16:04:56Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > You think this would be easy to find, especially since an estimated 250,000 [!] apostrophes have been removed. I suspect the vast majority of those removals happened after the GNIS database was created. Having the names computerized would facilitate the process. You can query the database [here](https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/domestic-names) (click on the “Search Domestic Names” button.) But the Post Office would have had an easier time, since they knew all the local office names and could dictate the name change. There would rarely be much local opposition. Well, OK Pittsburgh objected to losing their H, but that was a unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/8 "2022-02-08T16:09:59Z")
Grants Pass in SW Oregon used to have an apostrophe. Their website says it was dropped a bit after 1900, which is probably outside your date range of interest. > **[History | Grants Pass, OR - Official Website](https://www.grantspassoregon.gov/395/History)** > > Grants Pass served as a stagecoach stop in the 1860s and became a rail head with the completion of the Oregon-California Railroad. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/9 "2022-02-08T16:40:51Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > Grants Pass in SW Oregon used to have an apostrophe. Their website says it was dropped a bit after 1900, which is probably outside your date range of interest. I found a book in Googlebooks that says it was about the turn of the century. That’s close enough, I’ll take it. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/10 "2022-02-08T16:53:47Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The BGN (US Board on Geographic Names) has a policy of not allowing possessive apostrophes in names. Any idea WHY they are opposed to apostrophe’s? I could understand if a lazy database administrator made such a rule nowadays, because some systems treat apostrophes and quotes and such in special ways, not as ordinary text. But that clearly did not apply in the 1890s. Maybe their typewriters didn’t have an apostrophe key? (Maybe we can start a conspiracy theory, linking this to the question of whether there’s an apostrophe in President’s Day and Mother’s Day? 🤪) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/11 "2022-02-08T16:58:16Z")
Who cares about some database administrator? What about the actual townsfolk? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/12 "2022-02-08T17:14:14Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Any idea WHY they are opposed to apostrophe’s? No one seems to know. George Stewart in _Names on the Land_, says the policy started with the first report of the Board. BGN was formed in 1890, with the first report a year later. That report included 13 principles they would follow, starting with “The spelling and pronunciation which is sanctioned by local usage should be followed.” But 9 of those principles dictated specific things that were to be changed. Possessive apostrophes, diacritics, and hyphens were out. The word _City_, _-town_, _h_ of _-burgh_, _ugh_ or _-borough_, and _C.H._ for Court House should all be dropped. _Centre_ should be respelled as _Center_ and multiple word names should be written as a single word. Of course, not all of these were completely adopted. Diacritics were removed pretty much completely, but there were exceptions to all the others, especially the multi-word one. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/13 "2022-02-08T17:22:17Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Any idea WHY they are opposed to apostrophe’s? My guess is they were bothered by apostrophe abuse. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/14 "2022-02-08T18:37:38Z")
In my state, the legislature at one point dictated (and implemented in their bills) that the word “employee” be spelled with only one “e” at the end.\* The intention, as I have heard it, was efficiency and savings on printing the statute books. All those "e"s add up, you know. They also used “driver license.” I would not be surprised if the rules listed by the OP were driven by the same kind of efficiency theory. Dropping letters, apostrophes and spaces would all theoretically save time and ink, I guess. \*It is a recognized variant. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/15 "2022-02-08T20:27:03Z")
St. Marys, Kansas dates back to the 1860’s, which is earlier than the OP specified. But it was named after St. Mary’s Mission so it must have lost the apostrophe somewhere along the way. > **[St. Marys, Kansas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Marys,_Kansas)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > St. Marys is a city in Pottawatomie and Wabaunsee counties in the U.S. state of Kansas in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,759. It is home of Saint Mary's Academy and College. > St. Marys was laid out as a community in 1866. It was named after the St. Mary's Mission. > The oldest surviving mission building is the Pottawatomie Indian Pay Station which was built in 1855 and was used by government agents to p... ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophes-removed-by-the-bgn-post-office/959108/16 "2022-02-08T23:21:14Z")
The removal, or rather not using Apostrophes is a cartographic standard. I don’t remember the actual reasoning for it off the top of my head and all of my books are in the office, that I haven’t seen in two years. I believe though that it’s for readability. For proof take a look at [the 1885 USGS topo of Harpers Ferry](https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topoexplorer/index.html) that did not have an apostrophe. You can also see Snickers Gap in the southwest corner of the map, just south of the corner of West Virginia and Virginia. You need to scroll to the Harpers Ferry area and click on the area and it will give a list of maps. I don’t know if you saw the actual [First Report of Geographical Names](https://books.google.com/books?id=JE-AAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=harpers&f=false) but appendix A has a list of names they wanted to standardize. It’s not just apostrophes though, spaces will get removed as well at times. [Lilypons, MD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Pons) was named after Lily Pons and the space was removed. I might be able to find a cite for that.