What is the Meaning of the Name Sedona

The name ‘Sedona’, comes from an early pioneer resident whose name was Sedona Schnebly. Sedona is not a word from another country or language, but simply a name.

The town of Sedona, Arizona was named in 1902. Phillip and Amanda Miller named their daughter Sedona. Sedona married T. Carl Schnebly when she was 20. The couple had six children. In 1901 the Schnebly family moved to Upper Oak Creek and opened their first store and hotel. Sedona ran and operated the businesses along with a truck farm and post office.

Back in the day, when you operated a post office, you could give that post office a name. The Schnebly family offered up a handful of names for their post office, all of which were rejected by the Post Master General. Looking for something unique, the couple submitted the name Sedona as their final choice. On June 26,1902, the Postmaster approved the name - and some say, Sedona Schnebly at the age of 25 became the mother of the town.

The pioneering days of Sedona may sound glamorous, but it was a lot of hard work for this industrious couple. Buying eight acres in Oak Creek, the couple raised cattle as well as grew vegetables and fruit. In order to truck their harvests out to smaller surrounding towns, the miners in Jerome, and people in Flagstaff; the couple worked on the roads and built a complete road crew. Schnebly Hill Road was officially built through these efforts, and quickly became a major road.

Sedona has a few children of her own over the years. Sedona’s oldest daughter Pearl died of a tragic death at the age of 6, being trampled by a horse. Stories suggest that she was tangled in the horses reins when she bent over to open a gate and the horse spooked and dragged her to death. Sedona Schnebly never quite overcame the tragedy, as one can imagine.

Later, the Schnebly family operated a general store and boarded visitors in their large home, which was located where Tlaquepaque and Los Abrigados Resort and Spa now stand. Sedona Schnebly and her husband later left Arizona after their daughter’s death and tried homesteading in Missouri and then within Colorado. The couple eventually moved back to Sedona in the 1930s. With nothing left of their home, they moved into a small homestead on Jordan Road.

A statue of Sedona Schnebly was created to represent the city of Sedona and stands now can be found in front of the Sedona Community Library. Sedona’s name will go down in history as being a monumental founder of the town, a Hyundai car name and for many other notorious references including styles of furniture and healing methods within the southwest.

DEBNAIR are Premier Agents with Zillow and Trulia on Zillow Real Estate in Sedona, Arizona.

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