Sedona's main attraction is its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red Rocks of Sedona. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The Red Rocks form a breathtaking backdrop for everything from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails.
Sedona
is named after Sedona Miller Schnebly (1877–1950), the wife of the city's
first postmaster, who was celebrated for her hospitality and industriousness.
Geography and geology
Sedona is located is in the Upper Sonoran Desert of northern Arizona. At an elevation of 4,500 feet (1,372 m), Sedona has mild winters and summers that are often described as being, "not as hot as Phoenix."
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.6 square miles (48.2 km²), all of it land.
The famous red rocks of Sedona are formed by a layer of rock known as the Schnebly Hill Formation. The Schnebly Hill Formation is a thick layer of red to orange-colored sandstone found only in the Sedona vicinity. The sandstone, a member of the Supai Group, was deposited during the Permian period.
Among the rock formations is one that closely resembles the character Snoopy (from the popular Peanuts comic strip) lying on top of his doghouse. Another nearby rock is said to resemble Lucy, also from Peanuts. Other landmark rock formations include Coffeepot Rock, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, Chimney Rock, Courthouse Butte, the Mittens, the Cow Pies, and the Rabbit Ears.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,192 people, 4,928 households, and 2,863 families residing in the city. The population density was 548.0 people per square mile (211.6/km²). There were 5,684 housing units at an average density of 305.6/sq mi (118.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.17% White, 0.49% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.94% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 4.29% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races. 8.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,928 households out of which 15.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.9% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.52.
In the city the population was spread out with 13.7% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 35.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,042, and the median income for a family was $52,659. Males had a median income of $32,067 versus $24,453 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,350. About 4.7% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.
History
Native American
According to the Yavapai Native Americans, their ancestors were the first people of Sedona, descendants of "The First Lady," daughter of the Lady of the Pearl. The Yavapai Creation Story recounts how The Lady of the Pearl was sealed in a log with the Woodpecker and sent from Montezuma Well at the beginning of a Great Flood. For days and nights to follow, it rained incessantly and flood waters rose to cover every land form on earth. After 40 days, the rain stopped, the water receded and the log finally came to rest in Sedona. The Woodpecker freed the beautiful young woman from the log and guided her to the summit of Mingus Mountain, bearing a white stone or "Pearl" her people had given her for protection on the journey. There, she met the Sun, who fell in love with her. Returning to Sedona, she bathed in an enchanted pool in Boynton Canyon. Soon afterward, she gave birth to a daughter, referred to as the "First Lady," mother to all the Yavapai people. (Source: Spokesperson/representative of the Yavapai-Apache Nation Clarkdale, AZ.)
The Yavapai-Apache tribe were forcefully removed from the Verde Valley in 1876, to the San Carlos Indian Reservation, 180 miles southeast. 1500 people were marched, in midwinter, to San Carlos. Several hundred lost their lives. The survivors were interned for 25 years. About 200 Yavapai-Apache people returned to the Verde Valley in 1900.
Anglo-American settlement
The first Anglo settler moved into Oak Creek Canyon in 1879. The early settlers were farmers and ranchers. Oak Creek Canyon was well-known for its apple orchards. In 1902, when the Sedona post office was established, there were 55 residents. In the mid-1950s, the first telephone directory listed 155 names. Parts of the Sedona area weren't electrified until the 1960s.
Sedona began to develop as a tourist destination, vacation-home and retirement center in the 1950s. Most of the development seen today was constructed in the 1980s and 1990s. As of 2007, there are no large tracts of undeveloped land remaining. Section source:
Political structure
Politically, Uptown Sedona (the part in Coconino County) and West Sedona (the Yavapai County portion) form the City of Sedona. Originally founded in 1902, the town was incorporated into a city in January 1988. The Village of Oak Creek, despite its location seven miles (11 km) to the south and outside Sedona city limits, is a significant part of the community.
Cinematic legacy
Many of Hollywood's classic westerns were filmed in or near Sedona. The red rock buttes and desert landscape provided a striking setting for these films, most notably Broken Arrow (1950), starring James Stewart. A number of the movie's shooting locations can still be visited via off-road trails.
An intricate chase scene in the Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin comedy Midnight Run was filmed on the trails surrounding Sedona.
Fire
On June 18, 2006, a wildfire, reportedly started by campers, began about one mile (1.6 km) north of Sedona. The so-called "Brins Fire" covered 4,317 acres (17 km2) on Brins Mesa, Wilson Mountain and in Oak Creek Canyon before the USDA Forest Service declared it 100% contained as of 6 p.m. on June 28. Containment cost was estimated at $6,400,000.
Arts and special events
There are several events that are hosted annually in the Sedona area, including:
* GumptionFest
* Sedona International
Film Festival
* Sedona Marathon
* Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival
Sedona is home to several notable arts organizations in Northern Arizona.
* The
Sedona Arts Center, founded in 1958, is the oldest arts center in northern Arizona.
* The Sedona Jazz on the Rocks festival, founded in 1982, takes place annually
at Radisson Poco Diablo Resort and other locations over four days in September.
* Chamber Music Sedona sponsors a chamber music program annually from October
to May. 2007-2008 is the 25th anniversary season for this organization.
*
Sedona International Film Festival & Workshop was established in 1995. The
weeklong annual festival takes place in late February and early March at Harkins
Theatres while supplemental events take place at area resorts. The festival also
hosts monthly events.
* GumptionFest, established in 2006 by GumptionFest
Artistic Support Foundation Executive Director Dylan Jung, is a grassroots, local
art street festival takes place the first weekend of June.
* NORAZ Poets,
founded in 2003, is a nonprofit poetry network based in Sedona.
Sedona has also inspired the following songs and albums:
* Sedona is mentioned in
the Pixies song "Havalina" the last song on their album "Bossanova."
The lyrics are: "Walking in the breeze / On the plains of old Sedona / Arizona
/ Among the trees."
* The Electro group Dynamix II released a single
by the name of Sedona.
* Aerosmith recorded a song called "Sedona Sunrise"
released on their 2006 compilation Devil's Got a New Disguise. The lyrics and
laidback tone of the song were apparently inspired by the songwriters' visit to
Sedona.
* Inspired by the gorgeous rock formations surrounding the town, music
composer Steven Reineke wrote a piece which he named "Sedona."
*
In Jamie O'Neal's love ballad, "There Is No Arizona", Jamie belts out
the name Sedona in the chorus, "There is no Arizona. No painted desert, no
Sedona."
Education
Sedona is served by the Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District.
Sedona Red Rock High School (SRRHS), is located near the edge of town in West Sedona. The school's mascot is the Scorpion. The high school's new campus, a series of single story buildings, is located opposite the Sedona campus of Yavapai College, in West Sedona.
Sedona Charter School (SCS) is located behind the Sedona Public Library, it serves as Montessori based school for grades K-8th grade.
Yavapai College's Sedona Center for Arts & Technology includes the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking, the Business Partnership Program, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the University of Arizona Mini Med School.
Verde Valley School, a boarding/preparatory high school with many international students, is located between the Village of Oak Creek and Red Rock Crossing.
University of Sedona, a non-traditional institute providing ministerial training and education in metaphysics.
Vortices
There is a specialized New Age tourist industry in Sedona, where the "Harmonic Convergence" was organized by Jose Arguelles in 1987. Some purported "spiritual vortices" are said to be concentrated in the Sedona area at Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon, and Schnebly Hill
The validity of these vortices is debatable. Mainstream opinion considers such phenomena to be New Age mythology, but a small number of believers[who?] maintain that such vortices are real natural phenomena.
Notable current residents and celebrity visitors
* Maynard James Keenan
(born 1964), singer, songwriter, musician, and producer.
* Samaire Armstrong
(born 1980), actress
* Michelle Branch, (born 1983), musician and Sedona native
* Nicolas Cage, actor, and former wife Lisa Marie Presley were frequent visitors
* Ted Danson (born 1947), actor, owns a home in the copper cliffs area.
*
Justin Frankel (born 1978), Sedona native and computer programmer, inventor of
the Gnutella peer-to-peer system.
* Goldie Hawn and her domestic partner,
Kurt Russell, are frequent Sedona visitors.
* Stanley Jordan, (born 1959)
jazz guitarist
* Diane Lane (born 1965), actress, owns a second home in Sedona.
* Gerard Maguire (born 1945), stage and television actor, lives with his wife,
producer Jane Alsobrook.
* U.S. Sen. John McCain, (R-Arizona) (born 1936),
politician, 2008 Republican Presidential Candidate, owns a ranch southwest of
the city
* Nick Nolte (born 1941), actor, celebrity visitor
* Rosie O'Donnell
(born 1962), celebrity visitor
* Al Pacino (born 1940), actor owns a second
home in Sedona
* Debbie Reynolds (born 1932), actress, owns a vacation home
in Sedona
* Jane Russell (born 1921), actress and sex symbol
* Robert
Shields (born 1951), part of 1970s Shields and Yarnell mime duo is a Sedona resident.
Notable former residents
* Lucille Ball (1911-1989), comedienne, film,
television, stage and radio actress
* Joe Beeler (1931-2006), Western artist
and cofounder of the Cowboy Artists of America, lived and worked in Sedona, 1961-2006.
* Max Ernst (1881-1976), the German Dadaist and surrealist artist, lived in Sedona
from 1948 to 1953 with his fourth wife, the artist Dorothea Tanning.
* James
Gregory (1911-2002), character actor
* Ann Miller (1923-2004), actress and
dancer, owned a Sedona vacation home
* Lois Moran (1909-1990), actress
* Donald O'Connor (1925-2003), dancer, singer and actor
* Israel Regardie
(1907-1985), former secretary and friend of Aleister Crowley and member of the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn died in Sedona in 1985.
* Orson Welles (1915-1985),
actor, director & writer
* Deborah Walley (1943-2001), actress
* Mary
Wills (1914-1997), costume designer
* Sean Young (born 1959), actress, lived
in Sedona in the '90s
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