Best Promotional Materials

Promotional materials highlight the products and services that exist to enhance the image of the sense of place that Main Street provides. This category recognizes the advertising and informational resources that are developed to promote the positive image of the Main Street activities.

Self Guided Historic Walking Tour Uptown

On behalf of the Sedona Historic Preservation Commission, Sedona Historical Society and the Sedona Main Street Program we proudly nominate the Historic Uptown Sedona Self-Guided Walking Tour for Best Promotional Materials.

 

We three non-profit organizations worked together to create a script for a walking tour of historic Uptown Sedona (Sedona Main Street District) in 2002.  Since then, a guided tour has been given every year during National Historic Preservation Month. Many requests were made (Chamber of Commerce, Lodging Council, etc) to make an ongoing or self-guided historic walking tour available year round, not just one month.  So the Historic Uptown Sedona Self Guided Walking Tour Brochure was developed to fill this need and is now available to visitors and residents. 

 

This self-guided walking tour brochure provides consistent and flexible education that contributes a wealth of information to the visitors’ sense that Sedona is a special historical ‘place’. The Guide provides exposure to Sedona Main Street District’s physical, cultural, architectural and developmental history also. 

 

Since the Guide’s creation in late 2005 almost all 5000 copies have been distributed. They have added a personal dimension to the Uptown Sedona visitor pedestrian experience.  Uptown Sedona was the town’s main commercial district from the 1940s to the 1980s.  Since then, most local service businesses have relocated to West Sedona leaving Uptown as the primary tourist shopping district.  Though this area has much new development, most in the last 30 years, at least a dozen historic structures stand strong and exist well intermixed with many sites and remnants of places typical of a small towns long-ago. 

 

A few examples of Historic structures and remnants included in brochure:

• First Official Storefront Post Office in Sedona

• Sedona’s first Real Estate Office

• The site of Sedona’s first Church

• Sedona First Fire Station (also the Blacksmith Shop, Garage and Community Center)

• The AZ State shaped door handles of the first Sedona Bank, also location of Elvis Presley movie  

• Round imprints & different sidewalk materials marking second gas station and bus depot location

• The façade & saloon doors of original Oak Creek Tavern (where Cowboy Artists of America began)

 

With additional interest and positive feedback from highlighted properties and guests, the Historic Preservation Commission is currently working on a program to place historic plaques on several of those historic buildings mentioned in the guide.  These plaques add to the stories of the buildings and create additional interest.  The first of these plaques were installed in May 2007 and the Commission envisions it an ongoing program over the next 2-3 years as funds are made available. 

 

This Guide has spurred citizen awareness and support for Historic Preservation, even generating requests for Local Landmark designation. With the original printing of 5000 Guides about to be exhausted, the Commission plans to reprint.  The availability and use of this Guide has resulted in increased awareness of Sedona as a place with a rich and unique history by both residents and visitors.  It has also contributed to increased interest in development of walking tours of other historic areas of Sedona. For all these reasons, we believe that the Historic Uptown Sedona Self Guided Walking Tour Brochure meets and exceeds all the criteria for Best Promotional Material.