Regarding the use of the apostrophe in place
names, there is actually a rule against it. Although no one seems to know why,
the U.S. Board of Geographic Names has actively discouraged the use of the
apostrophe since its inception in 1890. Only a very few exceptions, such as
Martha's Vineyard, have been permitted. Officially, it's Pikes
Peak.
Perhaps there is an intermediate step
before a personal name is firmly attached to a location -- that of simple
identification. Coming as I do from the very eponymous village of Cooperstown,
may I use this place as an example. When William Cooper bought up some 40,000
acres on the west side of Lake Otsego in 1786, he established (an planned) a
community at the foot of the lake, which became known simply as "Foot of
Lake." Gradually, however, it became known as Cooper's Town, more as an
identification than as a formal name, though certainly William Cooper (who
died in 1809) had no objections to it. Among New York frontier towns of the
period it was noted in America and even in Europe as having been a great
success because of William Cooper's settlement founding skills (which caused
him to be hired by others, often without much success, to settle areas on
their behalves).
When the Village was legally incorporated
by the New York Legislature in 1807 is was (as a deliberate snub to Cooper by
anti-Federalists) formally named the "Village of Otsego," which remained its
technical name -- ignored by many inhabitants -- until the legislature
(temporarily back in Federalist control) renamed it "Village of Cooperstown"
in 1812 -- the name it has since borne.
Is this not perhaps a common intermediate
step: Hudson's River becomes Hudson River; Block's Island becomes Block
Island; Le Lac du Champlain becomes Lake Champlain. A name used originally to
identify a formally unnamed feature, gradually becomes its name. This may be
especially true in English-language place names, because of the inherent
awkwardness in spelling the possessive version using an apostrophe, and the
oral tendency to elide it -- as Cooper's Town becomes Cooperstown. Where this
elision is itself awkward, the possessive form is more likely to last. We
still say Pike's Peak, but perhaps only because Pikepeak doesn't exactly
sing!
Hugh MacDougall, Village Historian,
Cooperstown