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Ellsworth Schnebly Collection, 1890-1974

NAU.MS.192
NAU.PH.430

Biographical Note

The Schnebly family were early pioneers in Oak Creek Canyon, arriving at the turn of the century. Ellsworth Schnebly and his older brother, T.C., were the first contributors to fund building the road between Oak Creek Canyon and Flagstaff now known as Schnebly Hill Road. The brothers operated a small store in the canyon and T.C. freighted fresh produce from their farm in Oak Creek to Flagstaff over the new road.

Oak Creek Canyon soon became a half-way point between Flagstaff and Jerome. When T.C.'s application for a post office was approved, Ellsworth proposed naming the new community, Sedona, after T.C.'s wife, Sedona Miller Schnebly

The Schnbeblys were also instrumental in the building of the non-denominational church, Wayside Chapel, in Sedona in 1949. The church bell and organ were dedicated to the memory of Sedona Schnebly

Scope and Content

The manuscript materials consists of the following series: Biographical; Sedona Historical Records; and Publications. The Biographical series include personal and business correspondence, family history, legal documents, certificates, medals, and newsclippings. The Sedona Historical Records pertain to the construction of the Schnebly Hill Road (1951-1952) and the founding of Sedona. The collection of Publications relate to his religious, teaching, and personal activities and interests.

Photographic images are of Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Soda Springs, Beaver Creek, Schnebly Hill, the Sedona business district, Wayside Chapel, Mayhew's Lodge, Tonto Basin, Holbrook, AZ, the historic Schnebly home, Cherry Creek Mine, Montezuma Well, Sedona and T.C. (Theodore) Schnebly, Ellsworth Schnebly, Genevieve Schnebly, Lawrence Wilber Schnebly, and various other Schnebly family members, 1890-1974. Also included are images of Ella Ewing, a giantess from Gorin, Missouri, the Superstition Mountain, the Apache Lumber Company in Cooley, school sports photos with Ellsworth as coach, ruins of Colonel King Woolsey's home near Dewey, Ellsworth's home on 89A, and photos of historic Schnebly properies in Maryland.

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Related Material

During the collection reprocessing, two audio cassettes containing a speech(es) that Ellsworth Schnebly gave were transferred to the oral history collection. A reel-to-reel tape was also transferred containing the Vultee Memorial Dedication presented to the Sedona Westerners on September 27, 1969.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Ellsworth Schnebly Collection, NAU.PH.430. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Ellsworth Schnebly Collection, NAU.MS.192. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to the Northern Arizona University Library, Special Collections, by Larry Schnebly of Tucson, Arizona and his sisters Pat and Paula in July 1977.

Processing Information

Photograph collection was reprocessed in August of 2011 and the Manuscript collection was reprocessed in Spring of 2014.

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