Nestled quietly in the northern portion of the Verde Valley in Arizona, Sedona is home to about 10,000 residents who have the privilege of enjoying the red sandstone formations. The city is surrounded by these formations, which glow with a beautiful array of orange and red colors every day when the sun rises and sets. The city received its name in honor of Sedona Arabella Miller Schnebly, who was the wife of the city’s first postmaster. She died in 1950.

History

Sedona was first settled in 1876 by farmers and ranchers, and by 1902, there were 55 people living in the budding city. It was then that the first post office opened its doors, and Theodore Carlton Schnebly became Sedona’s first postmaster. 

By the 1950s, the population of Sedona had grown to 155 residents, but the city was not fully electrified until the 1960s. It was around this time when Sedona began developing as a destination for retirees and tourists. By the 1980s and well into the 1990s, Sedona experienced unprecedented growth, and today, there is no more undeveloped land available.

Sedona Today

Nowadays, Sedona is a vivacious city rich in Native American history and filled with interesting and fun places to visit. Curiously, it is the only city in the world where the McDonald’s arches are not yellow. As it happens, when the fast food franchise first opened in the city, the government decided that the color of the arches would take away from the view of the surrounding sandstone walls, so they requested that the arches be painted a lively turquoise green, which matches the scenery perfectly. 

Sedona is also the site of a large number of events, including the annual Sedona Hummingbird Festival and the Sedona Solstice Festivals, held every summer and winter, making it one of the most popular places to visit in the state of Arizona.