Arkansas' or Arkansas's.....which one is grammatically correct?

R-Kansas'

multiple pages

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Arkansans

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There's your problem - ask the Arkansawyers

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I grew up learning that it was S' not s's but last I heard both were technically grammatically correct.

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Same here, it was taught all the way through comp in college as s', but apparently s's is also grammatically correct and is being taught today.

I'm guessing it's supposed to be s's since the word ends in a W sound instead of an S sound.

However, that's fricked up. So it's Arkansas'.

I think it's "'s" unless we're saying that Arkansas is a plural noun or if it involves more than one Arkansas.

Frankly the idea of more than one Arkansas is scary.

Apparently there are more rules to this, rules that didn't exist or were not taught during my academic career.

Forming Possessives of Nouns

To see if you need to make a possessive, turn the phrase around and make it an "of the..." phrase. For example:

the boy's hat = the hat of the boy
three days' journey = journey of three days
If the noun after "of" is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture, then no apostrophe is needed!

room of the hotel = hotel room
door of the car = car door
leg of the table = table leg
Once you've determined whether you need to make a possessive, follow these rules to create one.

add 's to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s):
the owner's car
James's hat (James' hat is also acceptable. For plural, proper nouns that are possessive, use an apostrophe after the 's': "The Eggleses' presentation was good." The Eggleses are a husband and wife consultant team.)
add 's to the plural forms that do not end in -s:
the children's game
the geese's honking
add ' to the end of plural nouns that end in -s:
two cats' toys
three friends' letters
the countries' laws
add 's to the end of compound words:
my brother-in-law's money
add 's to the last noun to show joint possession of an object:
Todd and Anne's apartment

LINK

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Purdue University Online Writing Lab (or Purdue OWL) is one of the most respected and reputable grammar reference sites on the internet. It is cited by hundreds of other Universities around the country. According to Purdue OWL, you add " 's " to any singular possessive words, despite whether or not it ends in an "s". LINK

Whether it looks awkward, or whether or not a majority of people use Arkansas', is irrelevant. Arkansas's is the grammatically correct version of the possessive form of Arkansas.

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