# Are there any real places named \[Someone's\] \[Some Intangible Thing\] like Ryan's Hope or Evelyn's Despair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118 "2025-12-28T13:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/41 "2025-12-29T14:21:16Z")
Die Lustige Witwe was translated as The Merry Widow rather than the Lusty Widow, which would probably have been unacceptable. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/42 "2025-12-29T14:37:40Z")
Yeah, there are a buttload of those in Columbia. My wife grew up there, and her parents still live there. That’s one of the first things I noticed about the place. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/43 "2025-12-29T15:30:17Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > There are many “Five mile Roads” or other amount. I often wonder if it was actually 9.5 miles would they say “Nine and a half mile Road” on a sign? If it was actually 9.5 miles, the road probably wouldn’t even be there at all, and if there were some reason for it to be there anyway, it’d probably be named after that reason. In the US, once you get past the East Coast, much of the country was planned before it was settled, and part of the planning was a grid of roads, often including a major road at every integer number of miles. Since the mile number is the reason why the road is there, sometimes that’s what they get named. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/44 "2025-12-29T18:33:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And Hell isn’t a person. (Though it _is_ other people.) I, for one, grinned at this. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/45 "2025-12-29T20:52:46Z")
It’s not the official name but there is a Fort Blunder > **[Fort Blunder, America’s Most Embarrassing Gun Battery - New England...](https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/fort-blunder-american-most-embarrassing-gun-battery/)** > > Fort Blunder was a colossal mistake on a lake--Champlain, that is. Somehow military engineers put it in the exact wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/46 "2025-12-29T23:28:28Z")
Swasey’s Leap comes to mind. A narrow but deep canyon where legend has it a cowboy jumped his horse across. Not sure how intangible a leap is. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/47 "2025-12-30T00:33:29Z")
> [@ThisOneGuy](#): > > Swasey’s Leap comes to mind. A narrow but deep canyon where legend has it a cowboy jumped his horse across. Not sure how intangible a leap is. In New Jersey there is a Jenny Jump Mountain and Jenny Jump Stare Park which is named for a different legend. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/48 "2025-12-30T02:49:22Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > The capital, St. John’s–note the apostrophe–is named after, well, St. John. It is not clear who or what Dildo, Dildo Island, and Dildo’s Arm were named after. I believe that Dildo is just down the way from Come-By-Chance, in Conception Bay? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/49 "2025-12-30T03:02:33Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Reid’s Mistake is a name given to a headland and latterly a geological formation, north of Sydney. > [@Schnitte](#): > > There’s also, famously, False Bay near Cape Town Here in Washington we’ve got Cape Disappointment and Deception Pass. > **[Cape Disappointment (Washington)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Disappointment_(Washington))** > > Cape Disappointment is a headland of the Pacific Northwest, located at the extreme southwestern corner of Washington, United States, on the north side of the Columbia River bar (across from Oregon) and just west of Baker Bay. The point of the cape is located on the Pacific Ocean in Washington's Pacific County, approximately two miles (3.2 km) southwest of the town of Ilwaco. Cape Disappointment sees about 2,552 hours of fog a year, which is the equivalent of about 106 days—making it one of the Th... > **[Deception Pass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Pass)** > > Deception Pass (Lushootseed: sčudᶻ; Samish: Xwchsónges) is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A pair of bridges known collectively as Deception Pass Bridge cross Deception Pass. The bridges were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. > The Deception Pass area has been home to various Coast Salish tribes for thousands of year... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/50 "2025-12-30T04:12:12Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I believe that Dildo is just down the way from Come-By-Chance, in Conception Bay? Just like in Pennsylvania, where you can get from Blue Ball to Paradise through either Intercourse or Bird In Hand. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/51 "2025-12-30T12:40:07Z")
Norman’s Woe (as mentioned in Longfellow’s The Wreck of the Hesprus) is an actual rock off Gloucester, MA. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman’s\_Woe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman%E2%80%99s_Woe) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/52 "2025-12-30T13:16:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Here in Washington we’ve got Cape Disappointment and Deception Pass. And in New Zealand’s South Island, there’s Doubtful Sound, which I describe as “ehhhh??” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/53 "2025-12-30T14:09:38Z")
Maybe there’s some geographical place that would be suitable for “Portnoy’s Complaint,” but I’m not sure what. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/54 "2025-12-30T16:43:48Z")
Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be a Port Noy. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/55 "2025-12-30T18:07:16Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > And in New Zealand’s South Island, there’s Doubtful Sound, which I describe as “ehhhh??” I recently saw an NZ crime drama set in [The Remarkables.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Remarkables) And I’m reminded also that Scotland has [The Rest and Be Thankful.](https://www.arrocharheritage.com/HistoryOfRABT.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/56 "2025-12-30T22:24:25Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > There is (or was) a “Frank’s Folly” in Downingtown PA. “Frank” was a distant cousin. I understand this one was in reference to foolishness. And the well-known nickname “Seward’s Folly” for Alaskan territory, though I don’t think it’s an official place name of anywhere. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/57 "2025-12-30T23:49:32Z")
NH has the following townships, all have an apostrophe: - Bean’s Grant - Bean’s Purchase - Crawford’s Purchase - Cutt’s Grant - Dix’s Grant - Erving’s Location - Green’s Grant - Hadley’s Purchase - Hale’s Location - Hart’s Location - Low and Burbank’s Grant - Martin’s Location - Pinkham’s Grant - Sargent’s Purchase - Thompson and Meserve’s Purchase Vermont has the following gores, some have an apostrophe and some don’t: - Buels Gore - Warren’s Gore - Averys Gore - Warner’s Grant ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/58 "2025-12-31T00:02:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > There are many “Five mile Roads” or other amount. I often wonder if it was actually 9.5 miles would they say “Nine and a half mile Road” on a sign? There was a colonial era turnpike running from Rhode Island into Connecticut, that was chartered as being a right of way ten rods wide - and thus later became known as Ten Rod Road. A surveyor’s rod is 16.5 feet, and when RI modernized the road names in the 1930s, Ten Rod Road was designated as Route 165. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/59 "2025-12-31T08:16:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > There are many “Five mile Roads” or other amount. I often wonder if it was actually 9.5 miles would they say “Nine and a half mile Road” on a sign? There’s an 18 1/2 Mile Rd in Michigan. https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.601564,-83.0498451&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb There may be other “half mile” roads in that area which has a series of N Mile Rd’s; 18 1/2 Mile was the first I ran across. There’s a number of towns with fractional number streets, but the Grand Junction CO area not only has fractional streets (e.g. 31 1/2 Rd) but also fractional letters (e.g. D 1/2 Rd). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118/60 "2025-12-31T08:50:41Z")
There are numerous places in Russia named something following the pattern “kilometre [some number]”, which usually indicates its location on a railway line measured from the nearest major city. I’ve passed through “Platform 43 kilometres” on the Moscow-Petersburg route once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-real-places-named-someones-some-intangible-thing-like-ryans-hope-or-evelyns-despair/1026118.md?page=4)