The Milepost
Encyclopedia
Guide book
A guide book is a book for tourists or travelers that provides details about a geographic location, tourist destination, or itinerary. It is the written equivalent of a tour guide...
covering Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. It was first published in 1949 as a guide about traveling along the Alaska Highway
Alaska Highway
The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon...
, often locally referred to as "The ALCAN". It has since expanded to cover all major highways in the northwest corner of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, including the Alaska Marine Highway
Alaska Marine Highway
The Alaska Marine Highway or the Alaska Marine Highway System is a ferry service operated by the government of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska....
. It is updated annually.
History
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
(2007 edition: ISBN 1-892154-21-8), but like the Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
it includes paid advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. The original 1949 edition was a mere 72 pages, by 2006 it had expanded to 800 pages, detailing every place a traveler might eat, sleep, or just pull off the road for a moment on all of the highways of northwestern North America. In addition to the paid ads, descriptions are provided of interesting hikes or side trip drives near the highways, campgrounds and other public facilities, as well as short histories of most of the settlements on the highways. Newer additions include special sections on selected areas popular with tourists, such as the Kenai Peninsula
Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet, which borders the peninsula to the west.-Geography:...
It is also exhaustively cross-indexed and maps and charts are provided so that travelers can determine the total driving distance between any two points covered by the guide.
Publishing
Since 1997 The Milepost has been published by Morris CommunicationsMorris Communications
Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications and online services. Newspapers are the foundation...
and currently shares publishing offices with Alaska magazine
Alaska magazine
Alaska is a periodical devoted to news and discussion of issues and features of and from Alaska. A great deal of its readership consists of persons outside of Alaska who are interested in the Alaskan way of life....
. Beginning in 2009, The Milepost is also available in an interactive digital format as a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
or download.