Anglo-American settlement The first European-American settler, John J. Thompson, moved to
Oak Creek Canyon in 1876, an area well known for its peach and apple orchards. The early settlers were farmers and ranchers. In 1902, when the Sedona post office was established, there were 55 residents. In the mid-1950s, the first telephone directory listed 155 names. Some parts of the Sedona area were not electrified until the 1960s. The area, then unincorporated, had no local government and was bisected by two counties. Growth increased after a resident discovered water. That meant area residents no longer had to transport water, and could directly build infrastructure. 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. Important early settlers included the Steele family, originally of Scotland.
Chapel of the Holy Cross In 1956, construction of the
Chapel of the Holy Cross was completed. The chapel rises out of a redrock cliff. The most prominent feature of the chapel is the cross. Later a chapel was added. Inside the chapel there is a window and a cross with benches and pews.
Cinematic legacy Sedona played host to more than sixty Hollywood productions from the first years of movies into the 1970s. Stretching as far back as 1923, Sedona's pink rocks were a fixture in major Hollywood productionsincluding films such as
Angel and the Badman,
Desert Fury,
Blood on the Moon,
Johnny Guitar,
The Last Wagon,
3:10 to Yuma and
Broken Arrow. However, the surroundings typically were identified to audiences as the terrain of Texas, California, Nevada, and even Canada–US border territory. The town lent its name to the 2011 film
Sedona, which is set in the community. Additionally, HIM, a film exploring the “reality” of reality dating television, was shot entirely in Sedona in 2023, and made its premiere at the Sedona International Film Festival in 2024.
Brins Fire On June 18, 2006, a wildfire, reportedly started by campers, began about north of Sedona. The Brins Fire covered on Brins Mesa, Wilson Mountain and in Oak Creek Canyon before the
US Forest Service declared it 100 percent contained on June 28. Containment cost was estimated at $6.4 million.
Slide Fire On May 20, 2014, a wildfire started from an unknown cause began north of Sedona at
Slide Rock State Park. The Slide Fire spread across in Oak Creek Canyon over nine days and prompted evacuations. State Route 89A opened to
Flagstaff in June, but all parking and canyon access was closed to the public until October 1, 2014. ==Geography==