Mile Oak Publishing Inc.
Mile Oak Publishing Inc. is a small press company incorporated in 1992 to provide books for the millions of people who drive from the Midwest to winter in Florida each year. Their main titles are Along Interstate-75 and Along Florida's Expressways.
Many people ask us about the company's name. By today's standards, "Mile Oak Publishing" might seem a bit unusual, but in fact it's very appropriate for a company which combines travel information, maps and history into guidebooks. For the seeds of "Mile Oak" were sown on the ancient maps of England.
Six hundred years ago in the medieval villages and towns of England, place-names such as "Mile Oak" would have been quite common. For in those days when few could read or write, it was normal to describe a place by its physical characteristics.
Many modern place-names have their roots in this tradition -- Cambridge was the bridge over the River Cam and Plymouth was the town at the mouth of the River Plym.
In South England, an ancient oak tree once stood about a mile from the coastal settlement of Portslade and the lands surrounding it became the home for an order of monks. The local villagers soon started to refer to the monastery as being at the "place of the Myle Oake." Long after the monastery disappeared, the place-name remained. To this day, the name "Mile Oak" may be seen on the modern maps of England nestled in the southern slopes of the historic South Downs of Sussex.
As a youth, Dave Hunter, the founder of Mile Oak Publishing, roamed the ancient paths and hills around "Mile Oak," encouraged by a favorite aunt who purchased an old home in the area. He decided to name his publishing company after this tiny section of Sussex which she enjoyed so much.
