# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DeGMeSWDfYh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71448761-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/f5d39b7e1e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-10-05T03:00:57.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

The town of Sedona is named after a woman most people have never heard of.

Sedona Arabella Miller was born in Missouri in 1877. According to her family, even the name “Sedona” was something her mother made up.

She married Theodore Carlton “T.C.” Schnebly in 1897. A few years later, they moved west to Oak Creek, where they built a home, planted an orchard and opened a small store.

By 1902, around 55 people lived in the settlement, but there was still no post office.

T.C. applied for one.

His first suggestion was Schnebly Station.

Rejected. Too long.

Then he tried Oak Creek Crossing.

Rejected again. Also too long.

That’s when his brother suggested something much simpler:

Sedona.

T.C. submitted his wife’s name, and Washington approved it on June 26, 1902.

Three years later, after losing their daughter in an accident, the Schneblys moved back to Missouri. When they returned to Arizona decades later, the community still carried Sedona’s name, while the road T.C. helped build toward Flagstaff carried theirs: Schnebly Hill Road.

Sedona Schnebly eventually spent the rest of her life here. She passed away in 1950 and is buried in the town named after her.

And technically, Sedona wasn’t incorporated as a city until 1988, meaning the name had already been around for 86 years.

One of Arizona’s most famous places basically got its name because “Schnebly Station” and “Oak Creek Crossing” were too long for the post office. 😭

What do you think Sedona would be called today if they approved one of the original names? 👀

#Sedona #ArizonaHistory #OakCreek #Arizona #DownInnaDesert

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## Tags

arizonahistory, sedona, arizona, oakcreek, downinnadesert

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