Sedona, Arizona
| Sedona, Arizona | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
 |
|
 |
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| Counties | Yavapai, Coconino |
| Government | |
| - Type | Council-Manager |
| - Mayor | Rob Adams |
| Area | |
| - Total | 18.6 sq mi (48.2 km2) |
| - Land | 18.6 sq mi (48.2 km2) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,326 ft (1,319 m) |
| Population (2007)[1] | |
| - Total | 11,483 |
| - Density | 548.0/sq mi (211.6/km2) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 86336 |
| Area code(s) | 928 |
| FIPS code | 04-65350 |
| Website | www.sedonaaz.gov |
- For the Kia Motors Sedona automobile, see Kia Carnival
Sedona (pronounced /sɨˈdoʊnə/) is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 11,220.[2]
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.[3]
Contents |
Geography and geology
Sedona is located at ,[4] which 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.
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.
Climate
Sedona has a temperate high desert climate. In January, the average high temperature is 57°F (14°C) with a low of 31°F (-1°C). In July, the average high temperature is 97°F (34°C) with a low of 64°F (17°C). Annual precipitation is just over 19 inches.[5]
| Climate data for Sedona, AZ | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 56 (13.3) |
61 (16.1) |
65 (18.3) |
73 (22.8) |
82 (27.8) |
93 (33.9) |
97 (36.1) |
94 (34.4) |
88 (31.1) |
77 (25) |
64 (17.8) |
57 (13.9) |
75.58 (24.211) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 30 (-1.1) |
33 (0.6) |
37 (2.8) |
42 (5.6) |
49 (9.4) |
58 (14.4) |
64 (17.8) |
63 (17.2) |
58 (14.4) |
48 (8.9) |
36 (2.2) |
31 (-0.6) |
45.75 (7.639) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 2.1 (53) |
2.16 (54.9) |
2.47 (62.7) |
1.16 (29.5) |
0.71 (18) |
0.36 (9.1) |
1.65 (41.9) |
1.9 (48) |
1.94 (49.3) |
1.67 (42.4) |
1.38 (35.1) |
1.51 (38.4) |
19.01 (482.9) |
| Source: The Weather Channel[6] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
As of the census[7] 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.
At the 2000 census there were 7,229 people living in the Yavapai County (western) portion of the city (70.9% of its population) and 2,963 living in the Coconino County (eastern) portion (29.1%). By land area Yavapai had 66.2% of its area, versus 33.8% for Coconino.[8]
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
The Yavapai and Apache tribes 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 and Apache people returned to the Verde Valley in 1900 and have since intermingled as a single political entity although culturally distinct.[9]
Anglo-American settlement
The first Anglo settler, John J. Thompson, moved into Oak Creek Canyon in 1876. The early settlers were farmers and ranchers. Oak Creek Canyon was well-known for its peach and 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.[10]
In 1956, work on a new chapel, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, was completed. Inspired by the architecture of the Empire State Building, this chapel appears to rise 250 feet out of a thousand foot red rock formation characteristic of Sedona. The sunset strikes the chapel from the front, naturally lighting the chapel in the evening.[11]
Political structure
Politically, Uptown Sedona, the Gallery District and the Chapel area (the parts 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.
An Elvis Presley movie, "Stay Away, Joe" was filmed in and around Sedona.
Fire
On June 18, 2006, a wildfire, reportedly started by campers, began about one mile (1.6 km) north of Sedona.[12] 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 on June 28. Containment cost was estimated at $6,400,000.[13]
Arts and special events
There are several events that are hosted annually in the Sedona area, including:
- Sedona International Film Festival
- Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Festival
- Sedona Marathon
- The Sedona Miracle Annual Charity Fundraiser
- El Prado by the Creek's annual Creekside Serenade each May features art and music on the banks of Oak Creek in Tlaquepaque arts and crafts village.
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 late September. According to its Web site, the festival was canceled in 2009 due to the nationwide economic slump but hopes to return for 2010.
- Chamber Music Sedona sponsors a chamber music program annually from October to May. The 2007-2008 season is the 25th anniversary for the organization.
- Sedona International Film Festival & Workshop was established in 1995. The week-long 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. The first two years, the festival took place in early June but was moved to September for its third year. It was expanded from one night and one full day to one night and two full days for its fourth year in 2009. It is one of the largest free music and arts festivals in Northern Arizona, according to the Sedona Red Rock News.
- NORAZ Poets, extant from 2003 to 2007, was a nonprofit poetry network based in Sedona.
References in popular culture
- 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."
- The New York based band Project Skyward has a song called "An Afternoon In Sedona" on their album Strange Synchronicities (2004)/
- Since the 2007 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks professional baseball club, which plays its home games in Phoenix, has had uniforms dominated by a shade of red called "Sedona Red."
- Published in 2007, the novel Devil's Bridge by Greg Lilly sets the climatic scene on the Devil's Bridge trail near Sedona, Arizona.
- Laughing Colors frontman Dave Tieff wrote a song called "Sedona" on his first studio solo album, The Art of Peace.
- A fictional motorsports venue named Sedona Raceway Park is featured in Forza Motorsport 3
- Disney's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster is modeled after Grayback Mt, the highest monolith in Sedona. In tribute to this, a sign that reads, "Sedona Mining Company" is part of the scenery of the Thunder Mountain ride.
- Sedona is the setting of the song "Follow This Highway" by Neptune's Car. Singer/songwriter Holly Hanson wrote the song after visiting the area. The lyrics are: "Follow this highway through the canyon where the red rocks glow."
Education
Sedona is served by the Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District.
Verde Valley School, a boarding International Baccalaureate high school with many international students, is located between the Village of Oak Creek and Red Rock Crossing. It hosts numerous 'traditions' and performances open to the community. The mascot is the coyote. Total attendance measures about 120 students per year, grades 9-12, Monday through Friday.
Sedona Red Rock High School (SRRHS), built in 1994, is located on the western 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.
Sedona Charter School (SCS), is located behind the Sedona Public Library, serving as a Montessori based school for grades K-8.
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.
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 purport that "spiritual vortices" (local vernacular is "vortexes") are concentrated in the Sedona area at Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, and Boynton Canyon.[14][15]
Notable current residents
- Sharon Stone owns a second home in Sedona.
- Michelle Branch Sedona native
- Gail Edwards Actress - It's a Living, Blossom, Full House...
- Ted Danson
- Justin Frankel Sedona native
- Stanley Jordan
- Diane Ladd owns a second home in Sedona.
- Gerard Maguire
- U.S. Sen. John McCain, (R-Arizona) owns a ranch southwest of the city.
- Al Pacino owns a second home in Sedona.
- Debbie Reynolds owns a vacation home in Sedona.
- Jane Russell
- Glenn Scarpelli openly gay American actor (of One Day at a Time fame) and co-proprietor of the Sedona Now television network
- Robert Shields of Shields and Yarnell
- Eric Byrnes
Notable former residents
- Lucille Ball
- Joe Beeler lived and worked in Sedona, 1961-2006.
- Walt Disney Cartoonist, Founder Disneyland/World amusement parks
- Max Ernst lived in Sedona from 1948 to 1953 with his fourth wife, the artist Dorothea Tanning.
- Jack Frye resident Sedona 1941 to 1950, founder of Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc. (TWA)
- James Gregory
- Ann Miller owned a Sedona vacation home
- Lois Moran
- Donald O'Connor
- Israel Regardie died in Sedona in 1985.
- Deborah Walley
- Orson Welles
- Mary Wills
- Sean Young lived in Sedona in the '90s
Photos
 |
 Courthouse Butte |
 |
 |
 |
See also
- Chapel of the Holy Cross
- Village of Oak Creek
- Oak Creek Canyon
- Mogollon Rim
- Sedona Airport
References
- ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Arizona". United States Census Bureau. 2008-07-10. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2007-04-04.csv. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Arizona" (CSV). 2005 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21, 2006. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2005-04-04.csv. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
- ↑ Territorial Women's Memorial Rose Garden: Sedona Miller Schnebly. (n.d.) Sharlot Hall Museum. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?az7708
- ↑ "Monthly Averages for Sedona, AZ". Weather.com. 2010. http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/interstate/wxclimatology/monthly/USAZ0209. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ American Factfinder, United States Census Bureau
- ↑ History of the Yavapai-Apache Exodus
- ↑ Heidinger & Trevillyan, 2007, Images of America: Sedona, Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4800-5
- ↑ "Chapel of the Holy Cross". Sacred Destinations. 18 April 2009. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/sedona-chapel-of-the-holy-cross. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ↑ USDA Forest Service. (2006, June 19). Brins Fire Update. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ↑ USDA Forest Service. (2006, June 29). Brins Fire Update.PDF (34.6 KiB) Retrieved December 16, 2006.
- ↑ NY Times travel Guide
- ↑ NY Times: Sedona
External links
- Sedona Chamber of Commerce
- Sedona Public Library
- Sedona travel guide from Wikitravel
- Oak Creek Canyon information
- Sedona: a traveller's diary
- [1]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
