How did Sedona get its name? Everything to know about the Arizona woman who inspired it
Sedona is known worldwide for its stunning landscapes. Founded in 1902, the Arizona city is a favorite destination for tourists and locals alike.
Its higher elevation provides quick relief from Phoenix's scorching summers. In the winter, the snow dusts the iconic red rocks, which make for an otherworldly scene.
But aside from the city's natural beauty, where does the city's name come from?
It starts with Sedona Miller, a well-to-do woman from Gorin, Missouri.
"She played the piano. She wore a lot of blue. She was never idle," journalist Lisa Schnebly Heidinger says of her great-grandmother, Sedona. "She embroidered prodigiously, but always white on white. No colors. So her monogrammed napkins and handkerchiefs and nightgowns and everything else are white on white."
She married Theodore Carlton Schnebly, or T.C. as he was commonly called, on Feb. 20, 1897. They moved to what would later be named Sedona in 1899.
Where does the name Sedona come from?
In the late 1800s, there were only a few families homesteading in the red rocks region.
The story goes that T.C., who was the first postmaster of the area, applied to have it named either Oak Creek Crossing or Schnebly Station. But the names were rejected by the postmaster general for being too long.
T.C.'s brother, Dorsey Ellsworth, suggested the community be named Sedona, after the beloved woman who made an impression on the surrounding families. She was an active member in the area, fulfilling multiple roles despite the family's hardships.
And her impact is still known today.
"If you're going toward Flagstaff up 89-A, on your left is the Matterhorn Hotel that has been there forever, and the Wayside Chapel is right next to it. And when she was going to die, she said to T.C., I don't want flowers. Flowers are of the earth. I want bells. I want the bell because music is of the heavens," Heidinger said. "And he helped take them across the line to raise the rest of the money to obtain a bell. Every time I pass, I still look up to see that bell in the bell tower."
This week's episode of Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, explores the traits Sedona possessed and why her family was in and out of Arizona – and the magnetic pull they had to return to the scenic region.
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